Icy Heart
by LordEvan
Summary: People thought, they managed to evade fate, or rather Eric Potter helped them do it. Many plans and strategies were made, but fate has nasty habit of screwing the most carefully made plans and schemes. And now Harry Potter must go to Hogwarts after being abandoned. Elemental,intelligent,evil Harry. Slightly manipulative,but still good Dumbledore. AU and WBWL?story. The sequel is up
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

 **AN: In the summary I wrote about Harry being evil in this story, but that depends on a point of view, in reality it will be more like Harry being machiavellian (very machiavellian).**

 **This story is about Harry's first year. This story (book) is part 1 of Icy Heart series.**

 **Icy Heart**

Prologue. The prophecy

The house in Godric's Hollow was on fire. Tomorrow morning muggle newspapers would explain following flames as a result of an explosion of a gas lane under the house. Coincidentally news of countless flying starts all over the sky and other unexplainable occurrences would also flood the media. Only for wizards to share a good laugh at the muggles' frustration. On the other hand, how could anyone but a wizard know, that this night one of, if not the worst and most feared Dark Lord of the twentieth century fell at the hand of a one-year-old, namely Eric Potter.

By following morning every witch and wizard in Britain and in the world would know the name Potter, more exactly, Eric Potter. After all he somehow defeated the one, who was thought invincible to even death. The terror of Great Britain was destroyed by a baby. What no one would ever know, was that this very night was much more eventful than this. If one was a poet, he would say, that wheels of fate started turning.

By the following morning many things would happen: one prophecy would be proven true, another made, great man would make mistake and one child would be forgotten.

Albus Dumbledore was in his office, contemplating, thinking about the fall of Lord Voldemort. He has, with some minor degree of uncertainty, named Eric Potter the boy-who-lived. Really, the child was powerful, waves of magic were radiating from him and his scar had so much dark magic in it, that the aged headmaster didn't even want to remember that feeling.

"But what of the elder twin? What of Harry?" whispered voice in the back of his mind. "What of Harry indeed…" pondered Dumbledore. Harry Potter was not a weak child either, and even though it was very hard to grade a child's magical core due to its development, it was clear enough, that Harry would one day become a great wizard. Dumbledore could only hope, that this child would find it in himself to forgive him and his family for what they did to him.

The headmaster's musings were interrupted by wards flaring in a certain divination classroom. Dumbledore wasted no time and apparated there immediately – one of privileges of being a headmaster. What he saw gave him, one of the most powerful wizards in the world, creeps. Trelawney stood in the middle of the classroom with a far-away look in her eyes. She was already speaking in the harsh voice Dumbledore was all too familiar with.

" _The cold Judge has come… A summer child with an icy heart… Abandoned, forsaken, forgotten… Beware, good and bad, the fate of the world is in your hands… Beware, for the trial has already begun… The cold Judge has come…"_ and then Trelawney blinked a couple of times, her gaze becoming clearer. "Oh, Albus, did you want something?" she asked joyfully, ignoring headmaster's shocked expression.

"No, thank you, Sybill." Dumbledore smiled, finally regaining his composure. "I just wanted to congratulate you. It is not every day, that the Dark Lord is defeated."

"Thank you, Albus!" exclaimed the professor. "Would you care for a glass of firewhiskey? I have already started…"

"Oh, no, thank you, Sybill," headmaster laughed just as joyfully as Trelawney, "I prefer my lemon drops." Dumbledore smiled at his employee. "Now if you will excuse me, I shall be on my way. Have a nice celebration, Sybill."

"Thank you, Albus! Don't forget to celebrate yourself!" were the last words Dumbledore heard before emerald fire engulfed him.

Upon arriving back at his office, headmaster promptly produced a pensieve of what he just saw and carefully placed it among his most precious ones. Nothing could stop him from collapsing in his chair after that. "The prophecy is unusually clear." Dumbledore mused. "We know what to do. The cold judge is a child, who must be raised as a decent human being and then this world would be safe. But who could this child be? Any child can be a cold judge…" he could not contain a chuckle. "Well, the child must be an orphan, if he is abandoned. But that's still too many children… On the other hand, why would the prophecy say anything about an icy heart?" Dumbledore huffed in frustration and ate another lemon drop.

Somewhere in Surrey a baby, who was sleeping soundly despite chilling November wind, was awakened by a woman's wild shriek.


	2. Chapter 1 Icy Heart

**I do not like to repeat myself, so I won't be posting the same disclaimer in every chapter.**

Chapter 1. Icy heart

 _Three years later_

Harry didn't like his relatives. Aunt Petunia was a very loud woman who, it seemed, couldn't not shriek if she wasn't discussing some dirty gossip. Uncle Vernon was a fat man, who always thought of himself better than the others. His mediocre position in Grunnings, that still had some, if non-existent, power over others, didn't help in deflating the man's ego. Harry's cousin Dudley was just a little soon-to-be-bully, who was doted on by both parents. The most striking feature of this family though was not Petunia's obnoxiousness, not Vernon's arrogance and not Dudley's lack of common sense. No, they were all obsessed with being perfectly normal. One can only imagine their reaction to having to raise a magical child.

There was one thing that Harry always took pleasure in: watching Petunia's little gossip club meetings and Vernon's "business suppers" as the man called it. In fact, any public events in Dursleys' house never failed to provide Harry entertainment. It was the way everyone behaved around Dursleys. A little twitch of lips there and subtle glances between guests there showed guests' opinion of the family very clearly. How the three fools failed to notice, that they were nothing but laughing stock for all of their "friends", Harry never understood.

On the other hand, Harry had to do all the chores starting this year. If he failed to do anything on time or did it not perfect enough, he was punished by denying meal. To be honest, he didn't get all that much meal at all, Harry was fed only twice a day. "No need to waste good food on freaks!" uncle Vernon always said in merry voice.

In moments like these Harry was glad why nobody of his _dear family_ could figure out why it was always so cold in his cupboard under the stairs. For the reason was Harry himself. He found cold calming, relaxing even. Sometimes he would go of the house at night in winter just to feel icy wind on his cheeks. For some reason during these nights Harry felt more at home in a pile of snow, than in Dursleys' house.

 _Another two years later_

Harry used to wonder why Dursleys never noticed, that everyone laughed at them behind they backs and in their faces. Well, after long contemplations and many hours of reading (he could read perfectly at six) he came to a conclusion, that they were just idiots, brainless idiots.

How can a six-year-old read and where he got books, one may ask. Well, it happened that Dursleys thought of themselves as educated people and so had a small library, containing quite a few books, mainly classical literature. Of course, Harry didn't start with these books, he only strted "borrowing" books from his aunt and uncle when he was five, before that he spent a year learing how to read properly using Dudley's books. Apparently, Vernon and Petunia thought of their son as a genius and supplied him with many books… none of which were actually read by him, instead they were constantly "borrowed" and placed back by Harry. The funniest part was that Harry did all the cleaning in the house and so could take any book for indefinite amount of time from any part of the house and none would even notice.

Strange things started happening around Harry a year ago. Flowers would sometimes freeze from his single touch (what a beating he received from Petunia that day), frosty winds would blow when he was angry or upset and finally one night it was snowing in his cupboard! On each such occasion Harry would be called a freak and locked in his cupboard without food. Not that he wasted all this time.

One single reply from his relatieves ("Magic doesn't exist!") on different events of similar mysterious nature couldn't not intrigue Harry and he, being the ever-curious child he was (no beating could suppress this side of his personality) started thinking and thinking rather heavily. In the end he came to one disturbing conclusion: magic. He came to that conclusion at the age of five.

Aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon might have told him that magic didn't exist, but since when Harry paid much attention to his relatives' opinion. They were, after all, stupid and terrible liars (that much was obvious from Petunia's and Vernon's interactions with their different "friends").

It took Harry an entire year to be able to drop temperature around himself at will, but as a bonus he quickly learned how to control snowflakes. It provided him no little amount of entertainment during winter nights. He dared not show his magic to his relatives.

 _Another four years later_

Harry was ten now and another school year was coming to an end. To think that the next year he would go to secondary school! After initial beating from uncle Vernon Harry was afraid of doing better at school than his cousin, but he soon realized, that he would receive beating regardless of his results, so instead of holding back, Harry started studying as hard as he could. He was determined to grow up a successful man and prove Dursleys wrong, he was _not_ a good for nothing freak.

This plan had one fault, next month Harry had hard time sitting or standing, or moving in general for obvious reasons. Luckily, teachers thought Harry a prodigy, so one charming smile was enough for them to always give him his marks for the week, which always ended up in a trash bin. All invitations to parents' days and other such… activities also never failed to find its way to a trash bin. Dursleys never cared and teachers were always satisfied with a charming innocent smile and a miserable excuse. So far Harry had yet to suffer another beating from Dursleys for his high marks. Unfortunately (or fortunately), this year Harry got to the top of the year in all classes and that could and would not escape Dursley's attention. He knew what awaited Harry, if Dudley's sly smirk was any indication.

Over the last four years Dudley's friends invented a wonderful game, called Harry-hunting. The aim of the game was to hunt and catch Harry. The boy in question didn't even want to remember what came after this. The cold of his cupboard, though, never failed to calm down and heal him.

It was very good, that Harry made a great deal of progress with his magic. Snowflakes and temperature manipulation were only the beginning, he realized. Harry's real power was control over ice. Right now he could not produce great quantities of ice, but his manipulation of what he could produce was rather accurate. Harry's favorite form for his ice was a sword or an arrow. Right now it was very good time to show his relatives just what his freakishness was about. Today Vernon, Petunia and Dudley will experience humiliation, fear and despair worth of Harry's ten years of suffering their abuse.

A soft click of the door after him was enough to alert Petunia of Harry's arrival.

"Vernon, he is here!" she shrieked. Heavy steps could be heard from the living room and soon red-faced Vernon Dursley stomped into the corridor with a positively murderous look on his face. Not that Harry was fazed, after all he was used to holding a mask of indifference, what with all "don't produce a sound during your well-deserved punishment" policy.

"You-" before the fat man could continue, Harry snapped his fingers and four swords appeared at Vernon's throat. He immediately stopped with fear-struck eyes. Then he somehow found his courage and glared at Harry. "Get rid of this immediately, freak!" he roared, trying in vain to move one of the swords. Harry simply made the edges of this sword sharper and Dursley cut his hand and jerked it away with a pain-filled cry. "How dare you, freak! Get rid of them now!"

"No, you fat pompous idiot." Harry sneered darkly.

"Why you-" Vernon started shrieking as loud as his wife.

"You are too bold for someone with four swords at his throat, uncle." Harry said in a deceivingly calm voice. "I can control these swords perfectly well," Harry snapped his fingers again and two more swords appeared pointed right at Vernon's eyes, "if I were you, I would go to the living room and call for the family." seeing no reaction from now apparently terrified man, Harry rolled his eye impatiently, "I hate to repeat myself." Dursley senior just made step back, looked at his nephew with new-found fear and almost ran away to the living room, shouting for everyone to come down.

Once everyone was seated, Harry confidently walked into the room. It must have been an interesting sight: eleven-year-old walking with an aura of power. Three Dursleys were seated in front of a TV. Dudley on a couch, and Vernon and Petunia in the armchairs on Dudley's right and left. Harry thought for a minute about what to say, ignoring Dudley's rant about not wanting to see Harry, then idea struck him. He snapped his fingers and about dozen ice swords appeared behind him. All of the three looked at him wide-eyed. A small smirk crept on Harry's face.

"Now, dear relatives, get up and stand in front of the coffee table." he said in a sickly calm voice.

"What!" exclaimed Petunia with furious look on her face. Dudley was a little confused, before a frown found a way to his face and Vernon was just plain terrified and was looking at his wife as if she'd gone mad. Harry just looked with negligence on his aunt and two sword shot at her and stopped millimeters from her neck.

"I won't repeat myself." Harry said impassively, waiting for his relatives to move. "My patience, as vast as it is, also has its limits."

Vernon was the first to stand up and stand before Harry, Petunia and frowning, but still frightened Dudley followed soon after. Harry's smirk grew and all the swords disappeared, it was after all taxing for his developing magic to handle so much stress. Harry casually made his way to the coach and sat down before the three standing figures.

"Now see here, boy-" said Vernon with his new-found courage, again. And again immediately had a sword levitating at his throat.

"I'm growing tired, you know, my dear uncle." Harry said absently. "And one of these days my tight control over my beautiful ice might just… slip." Vernon paled and shut his gaping mouth. "Back to business." Harry said in s stern voice. "You might be wondering why I gathered you all here." He decided to let the Dursleys grow nervous a bit during his couple of minutes of silence. "Now that you know I can kill you all any second, I will inform you of some changes, that will happen in this house." No one dared say a word. Harry had to admit, that he enjoyed pale faces of his tormentors. "I will get Dudley's second room. I will get three decent meals a day and no more beatings, insults and chores. I will only clean my own room and wash my own things. Yes, no more Harry-hunting. It isn't that much." last sentence was said in somewhat absent tone. "Questions?" came now stern voice. All three shook their heads. "Good." Harry concluded. "And try not to think of me as a monster. I am only asking for a treatment any decent human being would expect. See you at supper then." Harry stood up with his impassive face and scanned all three stiff Dursleys. Satisfied, he left.

The next month was arguably the best in Harry's entire life. He got his own room that after a bit of cleaning became rather nice. No chores took his time, that was now dedicated to book and studying. A week after his conversation with Dursleys Petunia came to him and told him about his family.

"So my family is alive and well." Harry said indifferently. Inside he was experiencing an emotional rollercoaster, but a Dursley didn't need to see his weakness. "Did they say why they left me?"

Petunai was a little surprised. She decided that it was safer to tell the boy everything about his world before he himself found out and unleashed hell upon her family for not telling him. She expected thousands of questions about the freakish world and the foolish school Hogwarts, but instead she got only one. She came to her room to pick up the letter from the boy's parents. Thinking back she should not have been so surprised. Every child would be curious about his family, even her freak of a nephew. She made her way back to the boy's room and handed the letter over to him. Harry looked at her questioningly.

"It's from your parents." she replied shortly. Harry nodded and studied the envelope, it was thick parchment. In black ink was written _"Petunia and Vernon Dursley, 4 Privet Drive, Little Winking, Surrey"_

" _Dear Vernon and Petunia,_

 _We have to ask you for a favor. Recently our family was under attack from a Dark Lord, who tried to kill Eric. In short, he failed and Eric saved himself and his twin brother Harry._

 _We fear, that Harry will not be able to have normal childhood if he stays with us. Eric is now famous, and we don't want his brother growing up in someone's shadow. So we have to ask you to raise him until he is eleven, when he will receive his Hogwarts letter._

 _We will pick him up on his eleventh birthday to take him to Diagon Alley._

 _Thank you,_

 _Lily and James Potter"_

 _P.S. Albus created protections around this house, keyed to Harry's blood. It will keep him and you safe._

Petunia expected outrage, but her nephew's face remained blank, though temperature in the room suddenly dropped and the letter was slowly enveloped in a very thin layer of ice. Harry seemed to finally notice it and took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Thank you, aunt Petunia." he said with a hollow voice. She nodded and hurried to leave Harry alone in his room. She understood that he really wasn't wanted by his parents, as she kept telling him all his life, and after reading this letter, the boy understood it too. Really, she thought, telling him that he had no parents was more merciful than telling him the truth. Oh well, not that she cared about the freaks and their tragedies. She had a dinner to cook.

Harry waited until his aunt was far enough from his bedroom. Standing up, he locked the door and froze the lock, so nobody would disturb him. He silently made his way back to the bed and laid down, turning to the wall with a window. For the first time in years, he cried.

The letter, that laid frozen on the floor, was rubbish, that was clear to anyone with enough brainpower to understand what he was reading. It was written in a hurry, was generally badly organized and completely illogical. His parents just didn't want to bother with him. Dursleys were right after all, he was unwanted. Like a broken toy. When he gets his Hogwarts letter he will be miraculously repaired and eligible to be taken back to the family. How nice of Potters.

Cool air of the room was calming Harry little by little, comforting him. Harry chuckled, no one cared about him, no one wanted him. Only his magic has always been by his side, always helping and supporting him. He sighed. Suddenly furious determination washed over him. If he was going to return to the world of his parents, then it was going to be on his terms!


	3. Chapter 2 Of high and mundane

Chapter 2. Of high and mundane

Next day Harry was walking to the pub "Leakey Cauldron". Luckily Vernon agreed to take him to London, but completely refused to come to "some freakish circus". Well, not that his presence was missed. Harry casually strolled into the pub, straight to the counter.

"How can I help you, young lad?" the barman said, after noticing his newest customer.

"I was wondering how I can get to Diagon Alley, sir." Harry replied with a smile, that he usually used on the teachers.

"Alone?" the man asked, surprised. "Where are your parents?"

"They're already in the Alley." Harry answered, his smile turning sheepish.

"Oh well," the barman sighed after eyeing Harry suspiciously, "follow me, lad. Name's Tom by the way."

"Nice to meet you, I Harry." the boy smiled brightly. Tom never guessed that it was nothing but a façade, under it Harry felt nothing towards the man, absolutely nothing, he just wanted to get to the alley as soon as possible. If it involved some smiling and cheering, so be it.

"Here you go lad." Tom said after touching a sequence of bricks with his wand. Suddenly the wall disappeared and Harry was no longer in some dirty yard, but in Diagon Alley. He had to admit, it was beautiful and extraordinary, though he had to refrain from showing it, because surprise will cause more unwanted suspicion.

"Thank you, Tom." Harry said brightly. "I'll go find my parents." The barman waved a hand, smiling and a passageway closed. Harry sighed and smile disappeared from his face, replaced by cold indifference.

Many shops he had to pass on his way to Gringotts. Harry wouldn't deny, that he was excited, but not because he had just entered wonderful new world. No, Harry was as impressible as other children his age, he merely saw many opportunities. Cauldrons and apothecary – that meant potions. Wandstore, bookstore and other stores meant that there was much more to magic than just his mastery of ice. Harry had to stop his musing, because at last he reached his destination – Gringotts, the wizarding bank.

Neither magnificent bronze doors, nor grand silver doors with a famous poem, not even goblin guards were enough to attract Harry's attention. He had a fixed destination in this bank, and it was manager. It didn't take long to reach the hall manager's desk, even with all the crowd, a child had the advantage of small size after all.

"Hello, mister goblin." Harry said with a polite smile on his face.

"Good afternoon, Mr?" the goblin with glasses replied.

"Harry Potter." Harry said. "I would like to know if I have access to any vaults." he finished, smile disappearing. The goblin seemed to evaluate the boy before him and nodded.

"Griphook will lead you to your family accounts manager, Mr. Potter." the goblin replied and then called for another goblin, Griphook apparently.

"Thank you, mister goblin. Have a nice day." Harry said, leaving the hall after Griphook.

"Good day to you too, Mr. Potter." the goblin replied, chuckling, and got back to his papers.

Gringotts was a very large building, the biggest in Diagon Alley, and housed many offices and twisted corridors. In one of them Harry in his guide were walking. The corridor was nothing special. Dark wooden floor, cream-colored ceiling, crystal chandeliers, hanging from it, and green walls with paintings of various treasures made the interior of the bank. Soon Harry and Griphook stopped in front of one of many dark wooden doors and the goblin knocked politely.

"Enter." answered dry voice.

"Goldeye." Griphook nodded at the other goblin. "Mr. Potter would like to make an inquiry." he ushered Harry inside the office and closed the door behind the boy, leaving the two alone.

"Take a seat, Mr. Potter." Goldeye said.

The office was not very big, neither was it very small. The design was just the same as in the corridor with the exception of windows that let sunlight fill the room. On the other side, all the walls were hidden behind tall bookcases, filled with various ledgers, folders and scrolls. In the center stood majestic desk of dark wood, where even more books and folders laid. In front of the table stood two wooden chairs. Harry sat in one of them.

"So, Mr. Potter," the goblin said, not looking away from his customer for a second, "what would you like to ask?"

"I would like to ask if I have access to any vaults." Harry said, meeting Goldeye's gaze. The goblin nodded and took a blank from his table parchment and placed before his customer. A second later he gave Harry a knife.

"Drop some blood on the parchment. It will confirm your identity as well as list any all vaults you have access to." Goldeye said, before Harry had a chance to ask anything. Harry nodded and did as instructed. The knife was enchanted so a slit it left on his hand healed quickly. Blood touched the parchment and was absorbed by it. Soon words started appearing on it.

 _Harry James Potter_

 _Accessible vaults:_

 _Black family vault – access denied until the age of sixteen_

 _Black trust vault – access denied until the age of eleven_

 _Black heir vault_

 _Potter family vault – access denied_

 _Potter trust vault – access denied until the age of eleven_

"Mr. Goldeye, may I ask a question?" Harry said after looking through the parchment. The goblin nodded. "Why do I have access to Black vaults? And who are Black family?"

"Ah," the goblin smirked and summoned one of the folders from one of the bookcases, "Sirius Black was the last member of the family, also your godfather. According to his will you are his heir."

That was shocking news for Harry. He had a godfather, who actually made him his heir. But wait.

"Excuse me, _was_ the last surviving member of the family?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.

"Indeed." the goblin replied impassively. "Sirius black died six years ago at the hand of a death eater." There was silence until Goldeye took another parchment and an envelope from the folder. "This is the will of Sirius Black and his letter to you."

Harry took both documents and looked through the will. It was nothing interesting, just naming Harry as heir and giving some rather formidable sums of money to Black's close friends. Then he opened the letter.

" _Dear Harry,_

 _If you are reading this letter, then I am, unfortunately dead and unable to tell you this in person. It pains me that you most likely don't remember me, but I am still your godfather._

 _After Lily and James were attacked, they decided to "hide you from rouge death eaters" as they called it. I didn't believe it and Remus (though he is your brother's godfather) refused to believe it either. When I asked James and Lily where they sent you, they refused to answer me, claiming it would threaten your safety. I have been searching for you for three years now, without success._

 _I have always loved you Harry. But was unable to help you, even when James named Eric heir to the Potter family, instead of you (you are the first-born child). Sorry. But even if I am unable to meet you, I still have a present for you. I have accepted you in my family and named you my heir._

 _Have a nice life, Harry, and never forget, there will always be people, who will love you._

 _With love,_

 _The most immature of the Marauders and your godfather,_

 _Lord Sirius Orion Black_

 _P.S. You'll find my portrait in the Black Mansion in London."_

Harry had to fight tears, that threatened to overcome him. He was wanted by somebody. And now that precious somebody was dead. A lonely sob still escaped young child's moth though.

"Approximately how much money is there in Black vaults?" Harry asked at last, when he was sure his voice wouldn't break.

"Hmm." the goblin started looking through yet another folder. "According to the latest counting, Black family vault has approximately two million galleons; heir and trust vaults contain ten thousand galleons each and are refilled each year." Goldeye replied.

"And what is Hogwarts tuition price?" Harry asked. His head was already working on using all the information and resources he received. He will have time to cry later, right now he had to solve some serious problems to sort out.

"A thousand galleons a year." Goldeye replied instantly.

"Where from will the money be taken from to pay it, should I be accepted to Hogwarts?" was another question.

"From Potter trust vault." Goldeye answered, after looking through another folder.

"Can it be taken from Black trust vault instead?" Harry asked with determination and hope. "Ah," Goldeye thought, "the boy wants independence."

"Yes." the goblin nodded. "You have to fill in this form." he placed another parchment in front of Harry, who quickly looked through and then filled it in. He nodded and handed the parchment back to Goldeye.

"Anything else you would like to do in Gringotts, Mr. Potter?" the goblin asked, placing the parchment in one of the folders.

"Yes, I would like to make a withdrawal." Harry nodded. Goldeye nodded back and called for somebody to take Harry to the Black heir vault.

"Thank you, Mr. Goldeye," Harry smiled faintly, "have a nice day." he said leaving the office.

"Have a nice day as well, Mr. Potter." Goldeye replied and went back to his papers.

An hour later Harry left Gringotts with an enchanted valet, that was connected directly to his heir vault and keyed to his blood and magic to prevent theft. He looked around the alley, thinking where he should go, when he noticed Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions. Harry smiled, that's just what he needed, he was, after all, tired of wearing hand-me-downs from Dudley.

Another hour later slightly irritated, but still satisfied Harry left the shop with a big bag of shrunken clothes. Shop assistant said, that he had only to touch his clothes and it will grow back to its original size.

"Books!" Harry mentally exclaimed. On the outside, his face brightened and a broad smile graced it. Harry made his way to Flourish&Blotts. He decided, that since he would come here again for the books for Hogwarts with his parents, he could buy everything that caught his attention now.

If only Harry knew how many books would catch his attention! In the end of the day he left the Alley with two large bags, one containing shrunken books, another shrunken clothes. He was really lucky, that the touch-sensitive charms could be applied to his new purchases, otherwise he would have to wait for somebody to enlarge them. That was dependence and it was completely unacceptable for Harry.

Next morning, after breakfast, Harry was sitting in his room, that was now filled with different books. General theory behind magic and wandlore, books on history, traditions and law, as well as such disciplines as mind arts. The letter Harry found fascinating after reading introduction back at the shop. He was sure having a very interesting summer ahead of him.

Two weeks later Petunia entered her nephew's room and gasped. He was sitting behind a table, and his entire room looked more like a messy library, than a bedroom. The table held a couple of books on top of each other, one, though lay open. Notes were neatly arranged in different piles and notebooks. In the middle of it all sat Harry, who was excitedly writing something.

"Aunt Petunia?" he asked, turning to the door.

During these two weeks Petunia managed to get over her initial hatered and fear of Harry, unlike her husband and son. She didn't like, that he threatened her family with ice blades, but he didn't do anything disastrous with the amount of freedom he received after that. He didn't even try to tarnish their good name in any way. That was very good in Petunia's opinion, even if she still couldn't bring herself to treat Harry any better than a guest.

"Harry," she said a little unsure and awkwardly, "it's time for lunch." Turning quickly, Petunia left. She still couldn't understand how the boy was going forward so easily after all the revelations that were dropped on him like bombs. But it wasn't like she wanted any part in any of freaks' business, yet she couldn't bring herself to think of Harry as her sister's son anymore. And now that she thought of it, Petunia, being a mother herself, couldn't understand how Lily could abandon her child.

Harry, in the meantime, was blissfully unaware of the turmoil his aunt was facing and still trying to deny. He was fascinated by mind arts, and though they were hard, he was determined and had plenty of time.

" _It is very important to choose exactly how one wants to protect his mind, for the whole mindset, and thus the way one's memories are stored and organized, depends on it._

 _There are several different techniques of protecting one's mind. The first and most commonly used is so-called solid defense. Solid defense involves creating a safe place inside one's mind and erecting different mental barriers and protections to defend said place. This technique is the easiest to master, though it also has its drawbacks._

 _While solid defense provides good protection for one's mind, it is easily recognizable, thus very vulnerable to strong legillimences. The strengths of solid defenses is determined by person's mental and magical powers and can be easily overcome by a stronger invader._

 _Second type of mental defense is a mindscape defense. It is called so, because the protection is provided by nature of a mindscape itself. For example and invader's mind would be, upon invasion, transported into one's mindscape. There he will have find himself on some planet with various defenses, resembling reality (mazes, monsters etc.). It is one the hardest ways to defend one's mind. It is also arguably the strongest way._

 _Drawbacks of mindscape defense are few. For example if an invader has a strong enough mind he would be able to project his own magic inside defender's mindscape and overcome most of his defenses._

 _Third and final way of defending one's mind is liquid defense. It is called as such for making person's mind like water or air or other gases – evasive. This is a very tricky way of preserving one's secrets. The defender can force his mind to flow like water or air and thus create false memories, push them forward like liquid, while making real ones transparent and unnoticeable like air and hiding them away from a legillimence's probe (often inside a cocoon of false liquid-like memories). The liquid occlumency is also arguably the most effective way of defending one's mind._

 _Its greatest drawback is its complicity. One must have incredible, flawless control over his mind and emotions in order to master this art."_

"That's it!" Harry decided. "I'm learning liquid occlumency!" after a small smile and great determination and went downstairs to have dinner. By the looks of it he has his work cut out for him, so a lunch would definitely not hurt.


	4. Chapter 3 Hopes and reality

Chapter 3. Hopes and reality

With different studies Harry didn't noticed three weeks passing. Occlumency studies were going frustratingly slowly, as expected. So far Harry only managed to clear his mind. That still worked wonders with his ice powers though, it became so much easier to draw upon and control them.

Not that other books were forgotten. Harry learned to read at the age of four not for nothing. Books on history and tradition were read from cover to cover after two weeks and they were thick. Right now Harry was reading the book "General theory behind magic", which told him, that his powers were not common at all. He was an elemental. The book also told that it would be wise to keep his mouth shut about it.

So far Harry understood, that while he didn't like all the traditions, he loved history. All the powerful wizards, intrigues of ingenious malevolent and "good" rulers – it fascinated him. What Harry understood even at his muggle school was that history was written by the victors. And Harry fully intended to become a victor and was determined to use everything and everyone on the way. After all, Dursleys made sure to teach him not to trust or get attached to anyone, so stepping over people wasn't a problem.

From books on tradition Harry understood what position of heir entails. He also found out more facts about Black family and their history. It turned out, that Blacks were notorious for being dark. But then again, victors write history… From what Harry was able to gather from history books, Blacks weren't outright evil, they just practiced dark arts and sometimes backed some dark lords. Many overlook the fact, that these occurrences were very rare; most of the time Blacks were more like neutrals, that fiercely defended their interests with all means possible. Harry could certainly understand that, having done the same only a couple of weeks back.

Unfortunately, knowledge of wizarding tradition brought some realizations that were not welcome. Harry understood, just how much he was wronged. Wizards were looking down upon muggles, purebloods even more so. James Potter was a pureblood, but that didn't stop him from abandoning his son on muggles' doorstep. But that's not all. To deny one's firstborn his right and title of heir demanded serious grounds like criminal activities or betrayal of family, none of which could be committed by a child, who didn't even have a chance to know his parents. Harry was thanking his occlumency studies, if not for them he would've cried again. But occlumency demanded absolute control over one's emotions, so he just ignored all the emotional turmoil and went on with his studies, they were more important than Potters.

A sudden knock on his window distracted Harry from his thoughts. Looking at the window, Harry saw an owl with a letter attached to its leg. "Hogwarts letter." Harry concluded and opened the window. The owl dropped the letter on his bed and perched on a windowsill, waiting for an answer.

Harry picked up the letter and went back to his table, where he examined it. There on thick yellow parchment in emerald-green in was written:

" _Harry James Potter_

 _Smallest bedroom_

 _4, Privet Drive_

 _Little Winging_

 _Surrey"_

Without any haste Harry opened the envelope and examined the two lists, that fell from it.

" _HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

 _Headmaster: Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore_

 _Dear Mr. Harry Potter,_

 _We are glad to inform you, that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The term starts on September, 1st. List of all necessary items for the year is included. We await your reply not later, than August, 31st._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

 _Minerva McGonnagal"_

"So that's why you are here." was Harry's cold statement. The owl waited for him to answer the letter. Harry briefly looked through the list of required items and some warnings about… brooms? No, wait, forbidden brooms? Wizards were using brooms? Really? Shaking his head, Harry decided not to bother. He wrote a brief reply, that he accepts the invitation and gave it to the owl, that hooted and flew away.

That reminded Harry, today was his eleventh birthday and his so-called parents would come and collect him today. Bitter resentment started rising from the pit of Harry's stomach, but he squashed it. Emotions are a weakness, all of them. He turned back to the books and patiently waited for the Potters to arrive.

Harry didn't have to wait long; it was only an hour until a sound of the doorbell was heard. Harry decided to allow his aunt and uncle have a _reunion_ with his relatives first, and only when he heard a very loud "Harry!" from Petunia, did he come down.

Lily and James Potter stood in the doorway with Eric between them. All three were smiling and excited. After all, it's not every day you reunite with your son or brother.

Rather annoyed Petunia was standing in front of them with growling Vernon behind her. Harry smiled sweetly at his aunt, earning a huff. When Harry's cool gaze washed over Vernon, he paled a few shades, which was rather amusing. Then he turned to his _real family_. Judging by their smiles, they were waiting for a happy reunion. Well, Harry had a plan for it and with any luck by the end of the day the Potters would understand Harry's feelings for them very well.

A couple of calm dignified strides later Harry was standing in front of his mother, father and brother. Not that these words meant anything for him, but polite smile never left his lips.

James was a tall man with messy black hair and hazel eyes, that sparked with excitement. Harry knew a nooby in mind arts when he saw one. He wore light-brown jeans, white shirt and red pullover with an emblem of a lion – Gryffindor house coat of arms. All in all, James projected an aura of a playboy, that was dimmed by round glasses over his eyes and slouching.

Lily, on the other hand, was standing with straight back. Her auburn hair fell gracefully down to her shoulders. Green dress, that went down to the knees, brought out her green eyes, that looked so much like Harrys, but much warmer. A white belt emphasized her good shape and white shoes made her look slightly taller, than she was. If Harry cared, he would call the woman a definition of beauty and elegance. And a warm smiled fitted on her face perfectly.

Eric was dressed much like his father. Light-brown jeans, yellow t-shirt and red pullover with a "Gryffindor forever" print on it made his image. Of course his hair was just as messy as James's, but was auburn in color like Lily's and Eric's eyes were warm hazel and sparkled with mischief. Just like his father, Eric had a pair of round glasses on.

Harry couldn't help but compare himself to the people in front of him. All about them screamed "excessive energy", while his clothes, looks and posture radiated calmness. Thanks to Madam Malkin's Harry was no longer dressed in rugs, but instead wore white shirt and black jeans. His glasses, though, were simply too much like James's, so Harry decided to have a new pair made for him today.

"Harry?" Lily said, beaming. Harry nodded.

"Mother." he said softly. "Father." after a moment he added, "Brother."

"Harry!" Lily swept Harry into a hug. A rather uncomfortable and hollow hug, if you ask Harry, but he hugged his mother back nonetheless. And did she really believe this soft voice of his? Years of acting in front of the teachers were paying back.

"So, son, got your letter?" James asked after a minute of awkward silence.

"Yes, father." Harry made sure to let only a little bit of excitement show in his voice. Apparently that was enough for both of his parents, who beamed at him. "Oh please," Harry thought bitterly, "like it even concerns you."

"Let's go then!" James said. "We have to go to all the shops and Gringotts!" he turned around and motioned Harry to follow to a black very expensive-looking car. Harry turned back and nodded at the Dursleys, then followed his… family. He really needed another word for the Potters.

When Harry and the Potters found themselves in the car, conversations immediately started. Mainly either James or Lily kept telling their "lost" son about the wizarding world, and Eric was making remarks about boy-who-lived now and then. Harry was listening half-heartedly, instead studying every Potter in the car. They all looked happy and apparently thought that the reunion was a success. Eric suddenly Harry's attention. He was so unlike Harry, that it was hard to believe, they were twins. Eric was healthy and high, while Hary was thin (no longer scrawny, thanks to being fed properly for a month), but still too short for his age. Eric was bouncy and Harry was calm. Eric's eyes shined with happiness, while Harry's were dimmed, though still rich emerald in color.

"Magic is fascinating, isn't it, Harry?" Eric suddenly asked, causing Lily to chuckle.

Harry kept his polite smile firmly in place, while he was looking at Eric, trying to understand, if he was trying to start some interesting conversation or say something utterly stupid. Seeing a smug spark in the twin's eyes, Harry decided to bet on the latter.

"It is." he nodded.

"You know, I was trained by Albus Dumbledore himself! We managed to cover everything up to second year curriculum." Eric boasted. "Just ask me for help, if you have difficulties at school!" Harry's smile just became a bit stiffer.

Really was all that for some cheap boasting? That question could lead to such a discussion, but alas. Harry mentally sighed. But at least his brother could boast, covering it with charity – a rare talent to insult people ultimately. Lily and James, however, remained blissfully unaware of Harry's thoughts. Harry mentally sighed, and that was supposed to the Potter heir. You don't need legillimency to read him, one look at his face will be enough. Harry mentally sighed again.

Harry was waiting for another round of stupid questions, but they never came, thankfully. James and Lily remained silent, while Eric spouted nonsense about Quiddich and different teams, his friends and their preferences in the sport. All in all, it was more of a white noise for Harry, who only pretended to listen, while looking out of the window and admiring the scenery. He still made sure to look back at Eric from time to time and nod, so nobody could suspect him of ignoring his twin.

Half an hour of pointless blabbering later, Harry found himself in the Leaky Cauldron again. Tom could recognize him, yes, but he alongside with everyone in the pub, was so busy admiring Eric, that Harry's presence went unnoticed.

Very soon the Potters were making their way to Gringotts and James for some reason thought it his duty to point out different shops and explain everything about them to Harry, who couldn't really care less and absently nodded from time to time. Really, Potters were horrible companions, they preferred to listen to themselves, never paying any mind to the one who merely listened instead of participating of conversation. Harry mentally sighed. He was doing that a lot lately.

Fortunately, Potters left Harry alone in the entrance hall of Gringotts, while they went down to their vault to get some money. Well, all the better for Harry, who stood up and went to the manager, he had an inquiry to make.

"Excuse me, mister manager." Harry said as he approached the goblin he saw three weeks ago.

"Oh, Mr. Potter. Good day, how can Gringotts help you?" the manager asked.

"I was just wondering. You see, the last time I was here, Mr. Goldeye notified me of being an heir to a family other than Potters." Harry explained briefly, the goblin nodded. "Well, I wanted to ask you, can I take the name of that family?"

Goblin pondered on the question for half a minute, then nodded.

"Yes, that is possible, Mr. Potter." he nodded. Harry was glad, but didn't allow it to show – goblins don't appreciate anything standing in the way of business and that's what they were doing now. "However," at that Harry perked up, directing a questioning look at the goblin, "you will have to go to the Ministry to do this. You will also have to bring an adult representative to get into the building itself. The trickiest part though is that you must either have your parents' written permission to do this or…" the goblin eyed Harry, as if evaluating him, "you have to be of age or emancipated." Harry nodded somberly, disappointment filling him. And here he wanted to be free of the Potter name, that brought him only misery. And he would also wait to reveal his status of heir to Black family to the Potters. The part about emancipation, however, was interesting – that Harry was ready to admit. Maybe Hogwarts will have the book on this topic.

"Thank you, mister manager." Harry nodded.

"That was no problem, Mr. Potter." manager nodded. "And you can call me Swiftquill."

"Thank you, Mr. Swiftquill." Harry nodded again. "Good day." he said and went back to take his seat, while still thinking how to get rid of the Potter name.

"Ah here you are, Harry!" James's voice was heard in half an hour. "Come, we have lots of shops to visit!"

"Yay!" Eric exclaimed excitedly. "Let's go to the quiddich store!"

"Not before we by all of the school supplies for you and Harry." Lily said sternly, while glaring at her grinning husband. "Isn't that right, James?"

"Oh, yeah," the man answered, rubbing the back of head sheepishly, "right, dear."

"As I thought." Lily nodded. "Boys, off to Madam Malkin's, James, to the bookstore and I will go get everything necessary for potions lessons."

"She is bossy." Harry said, once Lily was out of hearing range; James and Eric burst out laughing, while Harry was looking at them with detachment. Yes, what he said was funny, considering the circumstances, but was it really necessary to fill the entire alley with obnoxious and very loud laughter? Harry shook his head and went straight to the clothes store.

"Oh, hello there again!" the saleswoman said, waving at Harry, who smiled innocently back, though the smile never reached his eyes. "Need more clothes?"

"Obviously," Harry thought with some annoyance, "why else would I come here? To have a chat with you?" However, instead of insulting the saleswoman he said: "Yes, madam. I need a set of Hogwarts robes. Silk please." Woman's eyes widened for a fraction, but she regained her composure soon enough.

"Well, I have all the information I need about you to make a set of robes as well as plenty of acromantula silk clothes… I will just need to find clothing will match your size..." the woman muttered. "Anyway, it will be two thousand galeons." she smiled at Harry, half-expecting a pout and an awkward apology.

"Very good." Harry said and took his enchanted valet out. He thought of one thousand galleons and two neatly organized columns of galleons appeared on the counter.

"Wonderful." the woman said, a bit surprised, it's not every day that you meet a child with unrestricted use of enchanted valet… especially since his previous purchases didn't cost more than a thousand galleons (and that's usually a monthly limit richest purebloods set for their children). "It will be ready by tomorrow."

"Then I will come around tomorrow." Harry nodded and turned to leave, when he saw Eric on the stool being measured. He quietly sat in one of the chairs and waited for his brother, occasionally watching either Eric or the family of two tall blonds with one ridiculously spoilt child, who tried to act mature. Harry had hard time hiding his amusement; after all, the kid basically announced to the whole world how dumb he was in self-important voice.

"It will be on my father – James Potter." Eric said, once the shop assistant was over with him. The woman nodded and smiled. Eric then went straight to his older twin.

"Hey Harry, are you finished?" he asked.

"Yes I am." Harry replied neutrally.

"Oh, well then, we should go to the ice cream parlor, that's our family rendezvous point in Diagon Alley." Eric said excitedly. Harry merely nodded.

Ten minutes later Harry and Eric met with their parents, who had two bags each. James looked as lively as ever and Lily was shooting him half-hearted stern looks.

"Are you finished, boys?" Lily asked. Harry and Eric both nodded. "Great, so let's go buy wands for you." This time Harry found himself nodding just as eagerly as Eric.

"Ah, the Potters!" elderly voice was heard, once the family entered the shop. Everyone looked at the source and saw an old man with shining grey eyes walking to them among rows and rows of wands. "Lily and James Potter! It feels as if only yesterday you both came here to buy your wands!"

"It's good to see you too, Mr. Olivander." Lily smiled at the old man. "Your wands still serve us faithfully."

"Indeed they do." Olivander nodded. "But you are here to buy wands for Mr. Eric and Mr. Harry Potters. Well, let's start then! Mr. Eric Potter, which is your wand arm?"

Another fifteen minutes and one broken glass later Eric grabbed yet another wand with irritation. To his surprise, he felt warmth spreading over his body, and golden sparks erupted from the tip of the wand.

"Holly, phoenix feather, eight inches, nice and subtle." Olivander said thoughtfully. "Curious, very curious…." and silence reigned for about fifteen seconds.

"Excuse me sir, but what's so curious?" James said at last.

"I remember every wand I have ever sold, Mr. Potter." Olivander replied in serious tone, "You see, a phoenix that gave a feather for this wand, donated another feather for another wand. The owner of that wand left young Eric with his famous scar." Awkward silence filled the room, until Olivander's face brightened again.

"Well, young Harry, let's get you a wand, shall we." he said joyfully. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Right one, sir." Harry replied in neutral voice, that seemed to put the seller off a little. Olivander, however, composed himself very fast and a measuring tape was soon flying all over Harry's right arm. Abruptly it stopped and flew back to Olivander.

"Hmm, let's see…" shopkeeper murmured. "Ah, try this one, Mr. Potter. Ebony, phoenix feather, seven inches. Good for transfiguration. Give it a wave!"

Harry complied and destroyed another window. He quickly, but still with sense of dignity, put the wand back on the counter.

"Hm," Olivander was apparently not concerned with two broken windows and just grabbed another box, placed it in front of Harry and opened it. "Elm, unicorn hair, nine inches." Harry took the wand and waved it and one the counter caught fire. Thankfully, Olivander quickly extinguished it. With another "hmm" he placed the box with a wand back and went searching for other wands. During another half an hour explosions and different occurances of destructive nature of various degree took place in the shop.

Truth be told, both James and Lily were quite annoyed and wanted just _some_ wand to choose their other son already. Why did he always have to give them so much trouble? Eric found his match after fifteen minutes after all!

"Well, you magic is clearly strong and requires suitable channel." Olivander said, looking at Harry and placing a red box on the table. Opening it, he took a reddish wand and held it out for Harry to take.

Harry took it and felt his magic stirring the way it did when he used his elemental ability, but much stronger. His entire body was filled with warmth it had never felt, with warmth, that was, in Harry's opinion, associated with acceptance. He closed his eyes and reveled in the feeling. Little did Harry know, that in the meantime temperature in the shop started rapidly decreasing, and soon frost covered the insides of the building. As soon as Harry opened his eyes, the temperature returned to normal and frost disappeared. He blinked a couple of times, trying to understand Olivander's gobsmacked and his parents' and Eric's shocked expressions

"Wonderful!" Olivander exclaimed as soon as he overcame initial shock. "Cherry and dragon heartstring, nine and a half inches. Very powerful."

Harry studied his new wand. It was of reddish color with intricate plant ornaments carved on the handle. The ornaments were so precise and accurate that one could see numerous vines intertwining on the handle, while the rest of the wand was blank. It was truly beautiful, Harry mused.

"A reddish-pink wand?" Eric said suddenly, unable to repress a snicker, just like James.

"Don't be deceived by its looks." Olivander said seriously. "I make very few cherry wands, even less with dragon heartstring as a core. Cherry wands are always powerful, and with dragon heartstring it is what poets call deadly beauty or… beautiful death." he looked at Harry intently. "I see it now, looks can be deceiving, as have been demonstrated, Mr. Potter." the shopkeeper stared in Harry's knowingly. "We may expect great things from you, Mr. Potter."

All of the family and Harry were hypnotized by Olivander's speech. James and Eric could no longer laugh at this wand… at least not in public. Lily just looked at her older son curiously and Harry turned to stare at his wand in awe, ignoring Olivander's comments about him for a moment.

"Well, that will be twenty galleons." Olivander said, breaking everyone from stupor.

"Thank you, Mr. Olivander." Harry nodded at the wand maker as James placed the money on the counter. Olivander just nodded back with a smile.

All that was left after it were telescopes and animals. Here began the worst part of the trip. Now that the family was together, they started talking again. And guess the topic. Eric was explaining some boy-who-lived stuff… Something about reporters, tutors and such, not that Harry listened. So after visiting another boring shop the Potters finally made it to Animal Menagerie, where they immediately split: Lily and James went with Eric and Harry went alone. Right now Harry could think about how his parents openly show that they don't care about him, but decided not to disturb his already made up mind about Potters. Instead, he concentrated on finding himself an animal.

After ten minutes of exploration his eyes fixed on a majestic steppe eagle. It looked big, and when Harry approached the bird, it spread its wings. This actually made Harry gasp in awe. This eagle was beautiful. It was brown from bottom to the head only varying in shades (wings were of a little lighter shade of brown), a beak was yellow and eyes were orange. The eagle sat proudly on the perch, eyeing Harry and inclining its head from time to time in different directions.

As Harry stretched a hand to touch the eagle, it made no move to resist and so he continued, not paying any attention to seller's desperate warnings not to touch the bird. Slowly the eagle leaned into Harry's hand and allowed him to stroke its feathers. The seller stopped in front of the pair speechless.

"It's… It's…" he stuttered.

"Yes?" Harry asked indifferently, still stroking the majestic bird's feathers.

"It's just… Steppe eagles are generally not the friendliest birds out there, and this one is outright vicious. It actaully attacked anybody, who came close to it." the man replied with visible nervousness.

"How much?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Excuse me?" the seller said in confusion.

"I'm taking this eagle." Harry said evenly. "How much does it cost?" On the outside Harry's face was the same as it was half an hour before – indifferent, but inside he was cringing. The very idea of treating this eagle like a possession of sort was insulting to him.

"Oh, that will be one hundred and fifty galleons. Let's go to the counter." the man motioned Harry to follow him. The eagle flew on the boy's shoulder and sat there comfortably, its talons not hurting Harry's solidified with ice shoulder in the slightest.

At the counter Harry met again with the Potters. Eric found himself an animal as well, it was a rather large eagle completely black owl with yellow eyes. "My eagle is so much more beautiful." Harry thought to himself.

"It will be two hundred and fifty galleons for both birds Mr. Potter." the manager said. When James placed the money on the counter, the man nodded and wished the family a good day.

"You've got an eagle!" Eric exclaimed, when they were still at the counter. Harry nodded. "What's his name?"

"I'll call him Imperius." Harry replied after half a minute of thinking, just enough for the Potters to leave the shop.

This evening Harry found himself left again at his aunt's and uncle's doorstep. Not he didn't expect it. The worst part, though, was how Lily and James tried to explain why he had to stay in this house. Something along the lines of blood wards, protection and so on and so forth. Guilty eyes and hands, that constantly twitched something ruined the intended effect… very badly. So after a hasty goodbye Lily, James and Eric left. Harry sighed in relief. Finally no more pointless blabbering about Gryffindor house and the boy-who-lived. Taking all of the bags, Harry went back to his room without any commotion and started unpacking his school equipment and looking through the new books. He was also upset about being unable to change his surname in foreseeable future and not being able to order himself a new pair of glasses. Oh well, he still had to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow to pick up his Hogwarts uniform, so it wasn't such a big problem after all.

* * *

 **AN: reply to a review from C**

Harry is smart in this story, it doesn't mean he already knows everything about magic. He only got his first year books in this chapter. He will go to Hogwarts, because it is the best wizarding school in the world, and Harry won't deny himself the best possible education because of his family.


	5. Chapter 4 September, 1st

Chapter 4. September, 1st

In the evening on August, 31st Harry was sitting on his bed, reading his potions book for the second time. It didn't hurt to be prepared, did it? After the trip to Diagon Alley with his parents, Harry dedicated his time to learning magical theory. He couldn't practice magic because of some ridiculous law about underage magic this summer, but he swore to himself, that it will be next summer. After all, there are all kinds of shops in Knockturn Alley.

One may think, that since Harry was reading his potions textbook for the second time, said subject was his favorite. One would be wrong, because he read all of the other textbooks at least three times. Harry didn't have any particular passion for potions. What Harry had passion for were runes and arithmacy, he read about in the book named "Introduction to magic", but alas, he didn't have any literature on these subjects. Hogwarts library, however, did.

The clock signaled midnight. Harry sighed and put the book away into the trunk. He got the trunk in Diagon Alley the day after his _reunion_ with the Potters. It was not very big, but it was very well protected: only Harry's touch could open the locks.

All the other things, like other textbooks, cauldron, telescope and clothes were already packed. Sighing again, Harry put his square glasses with black metal frame on the shelf – just as he promised himself, Harry ordered himself a new pair of glasses the same day he bought his trunk – and went to sleep.

Morning found Harry in his bed, sleeping soundly. The alarm-clock, however, disturbed the boy, who sat on his bed and sleepily rubbed his eyes. It was the first of September, 7 am.

Harry decided, that he would be better be early on the platform, that way the chances of him running into the Potters would be minimal, that and the Dursleys wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible to spend as much time with their son this day, as possible. He was rather lucky, Harry thought, that Potters decided not to pick him up on September, 1st. The Potters could spare him those miserable faces and that horrible acting of theirs, though.

He quickly put on the clothes he prepared for himself yesterday: black jeans, black leather belt and white shirt. Harry knew, that he wasn't very imaginative with his outfits, but one, he looked good like that, and two, he would rather die, than look like his father of brother in their horribly bright-colored outfits.

Breakfast was fast and silent, Petunia and Vernon periodically cast Harry "subtle" glances, no doubt wondering where he got the clothes from, especially since they were of higher quality than Dudley's. Harry just ignored them, their opinions ceased to matter to him completely two month ago.

An hour later rather annoyed Vernon dropped Harry near King's Cross station and drove away very fast. Harry couldn't help a smile appearing on his face at the thought of Dudley being late to school on the first day because of him. The smile turned into a content smirk and Harry walked to the station, he had platforms nine and ten to find.

In fifteen minutes of navigating through the crowd, Harry was staring at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. He couldn't help but wonder how wizards' logic worked: apparently men walking into the wall and disappearing on the station with video cameras was inconspicuous.

"Oh well…" Harry sighed and walked straight into the wall.

A second later he found himself on the platform with very little people. Behind him was an iron gate with "Platform 9¾" written on it. In front of Harry stood a magnificent red and golden steam train.

Not wasting any time, Harry got on the train and went to the last carriage, because there wasn't anybody there. Finding a compartment in an empty carriage was also not a hard task. So for an hour Harry enjoyed silence and calm, reading his potions textbook.

At ten a.m. the platform became crowded and even in the last carriage of the train new residents appeared. Harry looked out of the windows and saw many families saying last goodbyes to their children. Envy stirred in the pit of his stomach, but was quickly repressed. "I don't need these pointless sentiments." Harry repeated in his mind.

Just when he was going to get back to reading, the volume of noise on the platform increased dramatically. Harry looked out of the window and the next second wished he didn't. The Potters had come. Reporters, naturally, followed them like a swarm of flies would follow a piece of meat. What made Harry sick, however, was the way James and Eric reveled in all the attention they were receiving. He turned back to his book, ignoring all outside noise.

It wasn't long until the train started moving and very soon London urban landscape turned into countryside. People were milling in the corridors, looking for their friends. Inwardly, Harry was glad, that most of other first-years were in the first carriages, so he was just ignored.

A couple of hours of peaceful reading were interrupted by the compartment door sliding open to reveal a relatively tall boy with light-brown hair. He held an air of dignity around himself, which suggested that he was most likely from a pure-blood family. He also had a book in his hand, "Hogwarts: A History" – Harry recognized.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" the boy asked neutrally, but confidently. "All the other compartments are full."

"Not at all." Harry stated in the same voice.

"My name is Theodore Nott." the boy said after taking a place in front of Harry.

"Harry Potter." Harry replied indifferently and went back to reading.

"Are you?..." Theodore asked after a minute of contemplating.

"Twin brother of the boy-who-lived?" Harry said, lifting his eyes from the book to look at the other boy. "Unfortunately I am."

Theodore nodded awkwardly, realization of implications of Harry's answer dawning upon him. Harry ignored his reaction and simply went back to reading. Another half an hour passed with both boys consumed by respective books, until Theodore decided to start another conversation.

"I see you are reading on potions." he said, attracting Harry's attention. "Do you like the subject?"

Harry eyed the boy. He did show some interest, maybe his question wasn't merely for the sake of chatter. Maybe they will have an intelligent conversation.

"Not really." Harry replied. "I don't really have the passion for potions." after a short pause he decided to add, "I prefer transfiguration and DADA. Though charms are interesting as well."

"Interesting choices. I myself though like potions, you can use imagination in the subject… to an extent." Theodore smiled.

"Yes, until the cauldron blows up." Harry said with a smirk and both boys shared a laugh. "I guess, you will like arithmacy and ancient runes. Far more space for imagination."

"But we'll have to wait two years." Theodore objected.

"Not if we and Hogwarts library can help it." Harry smirked. Theodore smirked in return.

"Well, you can call me Theo." the boy said, smiling slightly.

"Then you can call me Harry." Harry replied, his smirk growing slightly bigger.

This was Theodore Nott, a pureblood, son of a death eater. He seemed intelligent, though, capable of participating in a decent conversation. Forging something like friendship with him could be beneficial, Harry mused, especially if he could secure the boy's loyalty… But that's a plan for future.

The rest of the ride was a mix of reading books and talks on different topics, such as interests, thoughts on the subjects and Hogwarts in general, and certainly about houses. Theo's face brightened, when Harry told him, that he too was betting on Slytherin.

"How peculiar, I thought that with your family you'd despise slytherins." Theo said curiously. "No offence."

"None taken." Harry said evenly, then his voice turned icy. "And what Potters think does not concern me. Maybe later I'll tell you exactly why."

"Oh, ok." Theo nodded awkwardly. Before he could say anything else, the door slid open and revealed a bushy-haired girl with bossy air around her. She regarded the boys briefly.

"Have any of you seen a toad?" she asked imperatively. "A boy, called Neville has lost one."

"No, we haven't." Harry replied. He wasn't going to tolerate someone bossing him around. "Now if you will excuse us, it's time to change." he grabbed his wand and pointed it at the door. "Colloportus." he said evenly and the door instantly slid shut.

"That was impressive, Harry." Theo said, getting his uniform from his trunk.

"Just a locking charm." Harry waved him off and started changing himself.

Half an hour later children swarmed Hogsmede platform. Harry and Theo were looking for where they had to go, when a low voice boomed.

"Firs' years! Firs' years! Over there!" in the distance Harry saw a very tall man. A half-giant, he mused and motioned Theo to follow him.

"All here?" the man said. "All right, name's Hagrid. Follow me!"

And so a very big number of children followed the half-giant. The path was rocky and slippery, someone even managed to lose his balance. In the distance Harry heard his brother's obnoxious laughter and rolled his eyes, which was not lost to Theo.

"All right! Four on boat!" Hagrid announced as the crowd neared the shore.

When everyone finally found themselves a boat to sit in, Hagrid exclaimed "Forward!" and all the vessels started gliding. Harry looked at the occupants of his boat. Himself, Theo, some chubby boy with black hair and shy face and that obnoxious girl, that disturbed him and Theo on the train. She seemed reserved and uncertain. Harry smirked slightly. She was irritated because of how he slammed the door right in front of her nose, but in the same time she was intimidated by his use of magic. Actually, about intimidation… Harry lowered temperature around himself by one degree – not enough to get cold, but enough to feel the deference, if someone were to come near him.

Finally Hogwarts came into view. The castle was magnificent, Harry had to acknowledge. Hogwarts was enormous and gothic architecture suited it just fine. Gasps were heard all around him. Harry had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Yes, the castle was beautiful, and Harry could appreciate this. But was there really the need to gasp? Haven't these kids seen any other castles in their lives?

At last the boats reached their destination – the docks – where Hagrid found Neville's toad. Now Harry knew the name of the boy, that was in the boat with him and Theo. Anyway, Hagrid led all the first-years to the courtyard, where they were met by a very stern-looking witch, whose piercing gaze swept over the crowd of children, effectively silencing them.

"Follow me." she said, her voice just as stern as her appearance, and led the children to the grand doors, that could only lead to the great hall. But instead of opening them, she led the first-years further into some kind of antechamber, which was rather small for the entire crowd.

"Now," she said, silencing everyone and drawing attention to herself, "I am professor McGonnagal. The sorting ceremony is about to begin. But before that, I must tell you about your future houses. Your house will be like your family: you will live in your house dormitories and attend lessons with your housemates. Your victories will earn your house points, while transgressions will lose them. Now, I advise you to smarten yourselves up. I will return shortly." and with these last words the witch left the room.

"How are we going to be sorted?" Harry heard one of the boys ask nervously.

"Dunno," the other one, with orange hair, replied, "my brothers told me we'll have to wrestle a troll."

Harry sighed and shook his head. A troll, seriously? And someone actually believed that. By the look on Theo's face Harry guessed that the boy shared his opinion on the matter. While Harry was thinking another thing occurred. Apparently, his brother had a conversation with Malfoy. And that could never be good, knowing recent history and all…

"We are ready to begin." professor McGonnagal said, drawing all attention back to herself. "Form a line and follow me."

The great hall was impressive. High ceiling, enchanted to show night sky, floating candles, long tables, full of students and the high table, where the professors sat and observed everyone. In the center, on the throne-like chair, headmaster Dumbledore sat, looking directly at Eric.

Professor McGonnagal brought a stool and placed it in front of the high table. A minute later an old hat was put on top of it… and started singing. Harry couldn't bother to listen, instead preferring to study professors. However, it seemed, professors have chosen the exact same time to study the first-years, and Harry met more than one gaze. A man, dressed completely in black seemed to have taken interest in Harry, their eyes met and the boy felt some foreign presence in his mind. "Legillimency!" Harry mentally cried in alarm and averted the gaze from the man. In the meantime the song stopped and McGonnagal started with the sorting.

"Abbot, Hannah!" the professor said.

A girl of average height and with brown hair nervously, but steadily made her way to the stool and took a seat. The sorting hat was put on her head by professor McGonnagal, and Harry could feel all of the first-years holding their breaths, while older students had looks of anticipation… except slytherins.

"Ravenclaw!" the hat exclaimed. First-years exhaled synchronically, and the hall erupted into cheers.

And so it went. The Bushy-haired girl went to Gryffingor, much to Harry's delight. He really didn't want to deal with her bossy nature on daily basis. Orange-haired boy – Ron Weasely – who, Harry noticed earlier, talked quite animatedly with Eric all the way to the castle and even got on the platform at the same time, also went to Gryffingor. Another interesting character, Draco Malfoy, was sorted into Slytherin. "He will have to be befriended, or neutralized." Harry decided immediately.

Then Eric's turn came. He smiled and sat on the stool, while whispers filled the hall.

"Eric Potter?"

" _THE_ Eric Potter?"

"The boy-who-lived?"

Harry smirked. At least he wouldn't receive such attention, not in the long run that is. And the less attention he gets the better, for now – more space for plotting.

Predictably, almost immediately the hat shouted:

"Gryffindor!"

The hall was filled with cheers again, but this time the table under red banners clapped much louder, than any other. Somebody even chanted: "We've got Potter! We've got Potter!" Harry decided to ignore everything for a moment.

"Harry Potter!" McGonnagal said, when everyone quieted down. The hall fell silent in an instant. Everybody was staring at Harry and whispering about the abandoned twin. Harry didn't pay anybody any mind, striding with grace and dignity to the stool. The hat was soon placed upon his head as well.

"Another Potter." said masculine voice inside Harry's head.

"I presume you are the sorting hat." Harry replied.

"You are correct."

"And you are intruding upon my mind."

"Correct again." the voice stated neutrally. "But fear not…"

"For you are bound by Hogwarts magic to not reveal students' secrets. Yes, I've read Hogwarts: A History." Harry replied, getting annoyed.

"Well, saves me time." the amused voice replied. "Now to start with the sorting."

"Hm, thirst for knowledge and a sharp mind… Cunning in spades… Oh, what's this? "History is written by the victors?" I certainly know where to place you, just don't lose yourself on the way to power." the hat mused.

"Slytherin!" it shouted outloud.

The hall applauded again and Harry went to the table under the green banners, where he was receiving more than one glare, not that he cared. After taking his seat near other first years Harry looked around the hall to study reaction from his brother and other students.

Everything was just as he expected it. Eric was sending him betrayed looks mixed with glares. The Weasley boy kept shooting Harry looks of outright loathing. Other than that there were no other remarkable reactions, except for cold looks the professor in black was shooting him, this time Harry made sure not to met the man's gaze.

Soon Theo was too sorted in Slytherin and sat near Harry. The sorting finished with Blaize Zabini being sorted to the house of serpents. After the final round of applause quieted down, Dumbledore stood and addressed the hall.

"Once again we are all gathered here in this wonderful hall! To the first years, welcome!" he beamed. "To those who returned, welcome back!" Another round of applause filled the hall. "I have a number of announcements to make, but they can wait until the end of the feast. Dig in!"

Just as the headmaster finished his speech, all the tables were filled with food. Harry couldn't help but study eating habits of those around him. Gryffindors didn't really mind manners, preferring a more casual behavior. Most of them still used forks and knifes, though, with the exception of one Ronald Weasely. The boy attacked the food like his life depended on it. Rather disgusting sight to behold. Hufflepuffs and ravencaws were more formal, but their tables were still filled with laughter and friendly conversations. And finally there were slytherins. They were the epitome of grace, even at the table, which was logical, since most of them were from old wizarding families. Harry himself fit quite nicely in the picture, since the book on wizarding traditions, he read during the summer, included etiquette.

What distinguished the table under the green banners were not perfect, or almost perfect, table manners, it was the volume of sounds around slytherin table. Members of the house just sat and talked to each other in low voices, keeping their detached masks firmly in place, so that nobody could guess anything about the nature of their conversations. Harry smirked – slytherins trusted no one, even other slytherins.

Later this evening Harry found himself in slytherin common room, which was unsurprisingly in green, silver and black colors with many leather couches scattered around. What was unique about the room, though, was the fact, that it was underground, deep in the dungeons, hidden behind plain wall – you couldn't find a more suitable place for the snakes' den.

All of the first years were gathered near the fireplace. Professor Snape, their head of house, stood in front of them with two sixth year slyhterin prefects.

"Welcome to the house of Salazar Slytherin." he said icily. "This is a house of cunning and wit. I know very well about rivalry between different groups within the house. I am perfectly fine with it. Do try to remember, though, that there are different ways of achieving your goals, than forcing your way with a wand. I will not tolerate duels of any kind in the common room, but," he smirked, "I cannot watch the entire castle, now can I?" Two prefects beside Snape regarded the first-years with creepy grins. "Just to be clear. I don't care whether you want to kill each other or not, you will be civil to any slytherin in this common room. If you have any problems with any of your housemates, you will solve them either verbally within this room, or… otherwise outside. However, I do like winning the House Cup, so make sure your power plays do not cost Slytherin house a single point… Or I will not be pleased." with these final words, Snape turned around and left the room with his cloak billowing dramatically behind him.

"Well, firsties," said one of the prefects, a tall male with short black hair, "you have, what we call "a free month". During this time we will not include you in our…"power plays", as professor Snape put it. But after the first month is over… Who knows." he smirked darkly.

"Yes," female prefect said, "each of you has a separate room. And if I were you, I'd spend the following month learning as much about protection wards and spells as I could." she smiled maliciously. "Good night… for now. Come here at eight tomorrow and we will show you to the great hall."

First years were frozen in their places. Harry looked at his housemates, evaluating possible threats from them and trying to predict their future moves. It was hard, since he didn't know anyone besides Theo, and maybe Malfoy. Just one glance at the platinum blond was enough to understand, that he wanted to be on the top of the food chain – a situation Harry planned on rectifying as fast as possible.

In fifteen minutes he was already in his room. It was nice, neither big, nor small, but enough to fit a four-poster bed in slytherin colors, a desk, a chair and a wardrobe. His trunk was lying near the bed. Harry decided to try using spells, he read about during the summer.

"Colloportus." he said, pointing his wand on the door, and the sound of lock sliding into place was heard. Harry smirked.

"Wingardium leviossa." the trunk lifted a couple of inches in the air and Harry motioned for it to float to the wardrobe. Once it was done, he opened said wardrobe and unpacked the trunk, using magic. It took some time, but it was worth the effort, after all, some practice would never harm.

After some late night plotting Harry extinguished the light in his room, using magic of course, and went to bed. The day was tiring, and he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

 **AN:**

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone, who posted a review.

 **SonatiShinonome:** As the story unfolds, you will understand, why it is not possible. Some of it will be cleared in the next chapter.


	6. Chapter 5 Preparing the chessboard

Chapter 5. Preparing the chessboard

Next morning Harry met with the rest of the first-years in the common room as planned. It took about ten to fifteen minutes for the prefects to show them to the great hall, where the breakfast was just starting.

"We come here as early as we can." male prefect explained. "Because later the hall will be full of noisy gryffindors. First-, second- and third-years come here at eight to… acquire immunity to gryffindorks and to keep up appearances. We can't have the school think, that slytherins are afraid to face gryffindors, now can we?" he asked with a smirk.

"Clever." Harry thought. "Especially since neither first, nor other younger years can do anything against their older housemates, that is, normal younger students." Harry planned to relieve himself of the need to face his brother and those foolish friends of his during mornings in next two month.

Breakfast was quiet affair, at least for slytherins. Though they still talked to each other, but they did it quietly.

"Good morning, Harry." Theo said. He was sitting near Harry and was also finishing his breakfast. Both were waiting for Snape to hand out the schedules.

"Good morning, Theo." Harry replied neutrally.

"So are we still planning to use Hogwarts library?" the other boy asked with a smirk.

"What do you think?" Harry smirked back. "First thing after the classes." Theo nodded.

At this time Snape passed them, and their identical schedules landed in front of the boys. The professor briefly looked at Harry, but decided against doing anything and merely walked over to the other students.

"Hm. Transfiguration." Harry commented. "I hope it will be interesting."

"It will be." Nott replied, sipping his juice. "Father told me about McGonnagal. She is very strict, but is a recognized master of transfiguration."

Harry merely hummed in agreement.

"We have to get our things from the dormitories." Harry said. "We'd better be off."

"Indeed." Theo nodded. Both boys stood up and left the hall. Harry couldn't help but smirk as he noticed calculating look Malfoy had been casting them. That wasn't the only look he noticed. Italian boy with tanned skin was looking at both Harry and Theo. Never being a rush gryffindor, Harry decided to wait and observe.

* * *

Everyone was waiting for the lesson to begin. Harry sat with Theo on slytherin side of the room. The other side was occupied by gryffindors, much to Harry's and other slytherins' displeasure. However Eric and the Weasley boy were nowhere to be seen. Harry couldn't help but feel curious why. At last, ten minutes after the beginning of the lesson, the two burst through the door, panting. Were they running?

"See, I told you nothing has started yet." Eric said with a smile.

"I know." the Weasley boy irritably. "But can you imagine the look on McGonnagal's face if we were late?"

Suddenly the cat, that was sitting on the teacher's table jumped forward and turned into rather irritated professor McGonnagal. She reached the two gryffindors in a few strides and glared sternly at them. Somehow even Harry was feeling intimidated by the glare, but hid it easily.

"You are late, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley." she said sharply. "Should I turn you both into a pair of clocks? Maybe at least one of you will be on time."

"We got lost." Eric said, without a trace of remorse in his voice.

"Then maybe a map?" she asked just as sternly as before. "I trust you can find your places without one." professor went to the board, while Eric and Weasley boy went to the front desk, heads bowed in shame. Harry smirked slightly.

"Transfiguration is one of the hardest disciplines you will learn in this school." McGonnagal said as she transformed her table into a pig and back. "I expect maximum effort from each and every one of you to understand the subject and will not tolerate foolish behavior in my class. Any questions? No? Good. Let us begin."

The following half an hour was filled with theory behind turning matchstick into a needle. Then McGonnagal handed out matchsticks and instructed everyone to try and transfugurate them into needles.

Harry looked at his matchstick critically. He imagined it turning into a needle. Wood turning into metal, dull turning into sharp. He waved a wand and said an incantation. Before him laid a perfect silver needle. He smirked briefly and tried turning needle back into matchstick. In ten seconds before Harry laid his matchstick. "Let's try decorating it a bit, shall we?" he mused and imagined a small snake curled around the needle. It was harder, but on the third try Harry managed. Theo looked at him wide-eyed.

"Wow, Harry." he breathed. Harry just smirked. McGonnagal noticed two students talking instead of working and went straight to the pair, looking at them sternly.

"Mr. Potter, what have I said about-" she stopped as soon as she saw Harry's needle with an elegant snake coiled around it. "Very impressive, Mr. Potter. You have certainly inherited your father's talent in transfiguration. Ten points to Slytherin for very impressive spellwork." she announced with a rare smile and left to help the other students, never noticing sour look on Harry's face.

"Harry?" Theo asked, eyeing the other boy carefully.

"It's nothing." Harry replied, his face returning to the state of expressionless mask. "Want any help?"

"Sure."

By the end of the lesson only Harry, Theo, Granger and Eric managed to tarnsfigurate their matchstick into a needle, earning Slyhterin and Gryffindor twenty-five and twenty points respectively, because none other than Harry managed to decorate their needles.

* * *

This evening Harry and Theo went to the library as planned. There they found many book for each other. Harry took charms and transfiguration textbooks for the second year, DADA textbooks for second and fourth years as well as a book on runes, while Theo preferred to take DADA and potions textbooks for the second year.

Smirking, they sat at one of the tables in a relatively secluded corner of the library. Madam Prince couldn't see them, as could not other students.

"Look, basic protection ward." Theo pointed at one of the spells in Harry's ancient runes book.

"Too obvious." Harry replied. "Too easy to overwhelm."

"What do you mean?" Theo said. "It's a protection ward. The runes won't allow anybody to get through them, else they will alert you."

"That's not the point." Harry objected calmly. "Do you remember Snape telling us about different groups within the hose and their rivalries?" Theo nodded. "Well, will these groups send only one man to force somebody to obey them? Even if the wards alert you, you'll be no match for the attackers."

"But didn't Snape said, that fighting was prohibited in the common room?" Theo asked.

"He did." Harry smirked. "But he said nothing about the dorms." Theo just sighed at this.

"So why are we doing it anyway?" he asked weakly. "It's not like a single first-year can hold off anybody."

"Don't worry." Harry reassured him. He didn't do it because he was concerned about Theo, no. The boy was clever and will be useful in the future and helping him now will secure his allegiance… to some extent. "I am seeking something evasive…"

Another hour passed before Harry exclaimed, "Yes!" under madam Prince's glare, that seemed to pierce even bookcases, he resigned to whispering. "I found solution to our problem."

"What?" Theo looked up from his second year DADA textbook.

"Look. Evasive ward." Harry pointed in his book. "Each time an unauthorized person tries to open the door, it will escape from him or her, move in different directions from them."

"That's good and all," Theo said dryly, "but have you seen runework and spellwork required to erect such a ward? It will take months to learn!"

"Two weeks." Harry said, as calm as ever. "Spellwork isn't all that complicated, just some fourth year spells… As for the runework… well, we just need to learn one alphabet, don't see what's big deal here."

"This is just… Ok." Theo finally said. "So shall we start?" Harry merely smirked and started taking notes. Unknown to the boys a pair of eyes was watching them.

* * *

Next day provided, what Harry could only call unnecessary complications. Well, he could call them that, or resort to Eric Potter and Ron Weasley. The fools challenged him to a wizarding duel.

It all started during charms lesson. Eric, despite all his bragging about training he had before Hogwarts, only managed to make his feather fly in primitive patterns by the end of the lesson, while Harry's and Theo's feathers danced gracefully in the air. To Eric's credit, though, only that annoying Granger girl also managed to make her feather fly at all. Slytherin and Gryffindor received thirty points each – not entirely fair, but Harry wasn't about to complain. Unfortunately, Eric and Ron thought differently, and so here they stood in the middle of the corridor, full of first-year slytherins and gryffindors.

"Okay, that's enough!" Eric exclaimed, glaring at Harry. Ron was mimicking his friend, shooting death glares at Theo, who looked impassive. Harry merely raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked in a bored voice.

"What did you do to learn all those spells, you snakes?" Eric hissed. "You slimy cheaters."

"Interesting approach." Harry commented dryly. "And why, pray tell me, would we need to resort to cheating in order to perform good during lessons?"

"I received tutelage from Dumbledore!" Eric exclaimed. "You couldn't possibly surpass me! I've been learning magic since I was six!"

"What a coincidence.," Harry thought, "I did as well…" Outloud he said, however:

"Oh, I get it." Harry smirked with mischievous glint in his eyes. "You're simply jealous, that somebody performed better, than our _wonderful hero._ Well, I suppose Granger is also cheating…" Eric's face, in the meantime was slowly turning a very nice shade of purple. "But then again, who would need cheating to surpass your mediocre skills…" Harry ended nonchalantly. Calculative gleam in his eyes, though, told Theo, that Harry was up to something.

"Why you!" Eric exclaimed. "If you doubt my skills, just ask Dumbledore!"

After this Harry had hard time repressing his laugh. Eric was just embarrassing himself even more. On the other hand, more opportunities to rile the fool up.

"Dumbledore this, Dumbledore that," Harry said in bored voice, "you're just hiding behind the old man's back, Eric. I think I have a good description of you: all bark and no bite." he drawled the last part with a smirk.

In the meantime Ron was still trying to drill a hole in still indifferent Theo, who only smirked from time to time, having caught on what Harry was doing, but not exactly understanding what he was doing it for. When Harry mentioned Dumbledore, the redhead perked up and started glaring at Harry.

"How dare you insult Eric, you snake!" Ron shouted. Harry just looked over him and smirked again. "He's worth ten of you snakes!"

'Oh, Weasley boy, do keep your mouth shut." Harry said with a sneer. "I prefer to talk to someone with at least a speck of intelligence."

"Enough!" Eric exclaimed. "Parents will hear of this!"

"Oh, so now you're hiding behind parents?" Harry asked with mock surprise. "How brave of our _savior."_ he sighed dramatically. "But then again, if one has no skill, what else can one do?" This seemed enough for Eric and he finally snapped.

"You want to see my skill?!" Eric roared. "Fine! I challenge you to a wizards' duel!"

"At midnight in the trophy room." Harry said with a contented smirk.

Eric huffed and stormed out of the corridor, Ron, after a final glare directed at Harry, did too. Most of slytherins and gryffinors dissipated soon after, leaving only Theo and Harry, who was still smirking. Finally, both boys went to Herbology, while conversing in whispers.

"You were riling him up." Theo whispered. Harry smirked again, he really started doing this a lot. "You wanted him to challenge you."

"Yes I did." Harry replied with a smirk still present.

"Why? Do you think you can duel him?" Theo asked incredulously.

"Whoever said I _will_ duel him?" Harry asked, mischievous glint reappearing in his eyes.

"So you actually…"

"Yes. Let them get caught for all I care." Harry smirked.

"How about students' reaction?" asked Theo.

"It was a show for our fellow slytherins, you know." Harry remarked casually. "What all the other houses think is not my concern."

"A dangerous game you are playing, Harry." Theo warned his friend. Harry just smirked again.

"I know."

* * *

Next morning Harry and Theo were calmly eating their breakfast with all the other slytherins. Occasional glances to the House point counter revealed, that Gryffindor lost eighty points in one night. Harry couldn't help but smile at the questioning glances he was receiving from other fist-years and some other housemates, who heard about the duel. Unfortunately calm and quiet of Slytherin table was disturbed by an all too familiar obnoxious voice.

"You cheater!" the voice exclaimed. Harry turned around, and yes, here stood Eric Potter with his Weasley boy.

"Whatever are you talking about?" Harry asked, calmly spreading butter over a piece of bread.

"I challenged you to a duel!" was an angry reply.

"And I never said I agreed." Harry cut off whatever else Eric wanted to say. "I just said "midnight in the trophy room." – nothing more."

"Why you-" Eric started, but was once again cut off, this time by professor Snape.

"What is the meaning of this, Potters?" he asked sternly, looking at Harry then at Eric.

"I have no idea, professor. Eric and Weasley just came here accusing me of some nonsense." Harry shrugged.

"Ten points from Gryfindor," Snape said, looking pointedly at Eric and Ron, "for disrupting school order." Under the professor's glare both gryffindors seemed to have lost their charge and went away. Snape hummed and went to the high table. Harry suppressed a smirk after seeing glances from his yearmates.

* * *

It was Friday and slytherins had potions period with gryffindors. Older years have reluctantly told their younger peers about favoritism Snape shows towards slyhterin, so Harry was relatively calm.

The classroom was in the dungeons, not too far from slytherin common room. It was divided into two parts – slyhterin half and gryffindor half. Harry sat with Theo as usual. He noticed somebody watching them, in fact, he had been noticing it for the entire week. A boy, named Blaze Zabini, was throwing them what he thought were subtle glances. Harry didn't know why he did this, but he planned on confronting the boy sooner rather than later.

Suddenly the door opened with loud "bang", and professor Snape walked into the classroom with his robes billowing behind him dramatically. All the chatter stopped immediately. Professor stopped in front of the teacher's desk and eyed the class critically; his gaze lingered a little on Eric and Harry.

"I will teach you the subtle art of potion-brewing." he said in cold tone. He didn't raise his voice, but everyone herd him clearly because of the perfect silence Snape's mere presence, it seemed, demanded. "There will be little silly wand-movements and incantations, so I don't expect many you to appreciate this most delicate of sciences. I can teach you how to bewitch minds and ensnare senses, how to brew glory and bottle fame… That is if you aren't a bunch of dunderheads I usually have to teach." The class was so captivated by the professors speech, that no one, it seemed, noticed the insult.

"Potter!" he barked suddenly and both Harry and Eric looked at him. He rolled his eyes. "Eric Potter." he specified, spitting the last name. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Eric looked lost, and several slytherins snickered. Harry just narrowed his eyes at the potions master.

"I don't know." Eric said without a trace of remorse.

"A… pity." Snape said with a strong sarcastic intonation. Almost all slytherins snickered or at least smirked this time, some even chuckled, earning more than one death glare from gryffindors. "Let's try again, shall we. Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Harry kept his face impassive. He knew what was going on. At first Snape was trying to intimidate Eric, by asking him a question from the end of the textbook. Now he was either trying to really evaluate Eric's knowledge of potions… or he was trying to humiliate him completely, because examples of different antidotes, among them bezoars, are described in the very first chapter of their textbooks.

"I don't know." Eric said in that self-assured voice that always irritated Harry to no end. This tone is either used by those who know the subject thoroughly, so they can answer any question on it without batting an eyelash, or complete idiots, who had delusions about their intellect.

"Tut-tut." Snape said. "Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, Potter? Let's try again. What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Harry briefly glanced at other gryfindors near his brother. Behind him sat that Granger girl, who considered lifting her hand in the air a duty, even if it was clear that the teacher was ignoring her. Did she really believe, that lifting her hand every time Snape tries to humiliate Eric would do her any good? Harry really hoped, that she didn't think herself a genius, because these questions were elementary for everyone, who bothered to read their textbook. In other words, the entire Slyhterin house was ready to answer any of them.

"I don't know sir."

"Hm. Clearly fame isn't everything, is it?" Snape looked straight in Eric's eyes. Half of the slytherins were now desperately trying to repress chuckles. "Thirty points from Gryffindor for your ignorance." Eric wanted to say something, as did Granger, but they were stopped by their wiser housemates.

"Let's see if ignorance runs in the family, shall we?" Snape drawled. "Harry Potter." he said, making his way towards slytherin half of the classroom. "Same questions in the same order."

"Yes, sir." Harry said neutrally. "Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death." he decided to make a pause for dramatic effect. "A bezoar is a stone, taken from the stomach of a goat, and it will save you from most poisons. Monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." Harry finished looking as calm as ever.

Snape narrowed his eyes, trying to meet the elder of the Potter twin's gaze, but was unable to do so. It seemed that slytherin Potter was evading his gaze. Snape had to suppress a smirk. The brat learned of his legillimency skills during the welcoming feast and refused to give his secrets up that easily. On the other hand, the brat had read his textbook thoroughly, if he managed to give such full answers. Maybe at least this spawn of James Potter was intelligent, though it was probably from Lily.

"Well," he snapped, "why aren't you all writing this down?"

The rest of the lesson passed normally, at least for Harry. They had to brew some primitive potion to cure boils. He was paired with Theo and their work progressed smoothly; like most of slyhterins they didn't have to deal with Snape breathing down their backs. The professor was gliding through his classroom, when the cauldron of one of gryffindor students melted down, spreading foul liquid all over gryffindor half of the classroom.

"Brainless boy!" Snape shouted in somehow bored voice, he got rid of the liquid in one swipe of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Harry identified said boy as Neville. He was covered in what was once potion. A pitiful sight really.

"You there – Potter!" he rounded Eric and Ron, who were working next to Neville. 'Why didn't you stop your housemate? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? Here goes famous gryffindor loyalty." he scoffed. "Ten points from Gryffindor, Potter."

It was enough for Eric's patience to finally snap. Ron tried to stop him, but all was in vain. Just as Snape turned to leave, he heard Eric object.

"I am supposed to look after every single cauldron in the classroom?" Eric said with annoyance. The smallest of smirks crossed Snape's face for the briefest of moments. No one noticed this of course. No one, except Harry and Theodore, who the professor happened to be looking at that moment. Harry sighed tiredly. Snape seemed hate the name Potter for some reason and even more so Eric Potter, and he was deliberately riling Eric up. What was the reason, though? Then Harry got some idea. What was James saying about their pranks during school….

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter." Snape spilled the last word, and turned to Harry's and Theo's cauldron. It was a perfect potion (as perfect as first-years can manage). Snape looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it and simply went to check on other slytherins.

* * *

Over the weekend Harry and Theo worked in the library, struggling to complete all of their assignments and their independent studies of protection wards. Harry could proudly say, that he had almost mastered all the runework required.

"I think we will be able to set up evasion wards next Saturday." he said to Theo.

"Do you think it will be enough?" the other boy asked.

"It won't." Harry said sharply. "That's why I have found this." he pointed to some rather thick book. Opening it in the middle, he showed Theo the spell. The boy's eyes widened.

"Space-manipulation ward?!" Theo exclaimed in a whisper. "Are you crazy? I don't even understand what's written in here!"

"Calm down." Harry waved his complains off. "I don't understand it either. We will have to study both arithmacy and runes really hard for this. I don't entertain any ideas about setting up this particular ward in near future. But it won't hurt to have some plans."

"Okay, but how does it work?" Theo asked. "What does it do?"

"Oh, that's why I have chosen this ward." Harry smirked. "It is applied on the entire room. If someone unauthorized gets inside, he won't be able to reach anything, the space will stretch itself, moving his destination away from the intruder."

"Neat." Theo nodded after a few seconds of contemplaiting.

"Yes, but for now, I think we should concentrate on offensive and defensive spells." Harry said. "Evasive ward will be good enough against first- and second-years, maybe even third-years. Older students will be able to break it if they really want."

Suddenly Harry noticed someone's gaze on himself and Theo again. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly and he started looking around.

"And we will have to defend ourselves, if they decide to persuade us to do anything." Theo finished Harry's though. The other slytherin nodded. "Makes sense. Is that why have been reading on defense non-stop during the week?" Harry nodded again. And looked to Theo's right, where someone was hiding behind bookcases. "And how is it going?"

"I managed to cast some spells, but I will need more time to master them all. Approximately a month." Harry said, while contemplating something. "Come with me." he said suddenly, standing up. Theo shot Harry confused look, to which Harry just murmured "later".

Both boys went to the bookcase, where Harry saw a boy hiding. Suddenly there was commotion. Harry didn't waste any time and ran behind the book case, finding first-years slytherin Blaise Zabini trying to flee. Harry drew his wand immediately.

"Petrificus tatalus." he whispered. There was a "thump", when the body hit the floor. Thankfully this space was beyond madam Prince's sphere of influence (meaning that the librarian just couldn't see anything in there), so Harry and Theo weren't in any danger from her.

"So, Blaise Zabini." Harry drawled. "You've been watching me and Theo for more than a week now. That's quite annoying." he critically looked the boy over. "But you can't answer me like this, can you?" with a flick of his wand all bindings were undone.

"I don't understand what you are talking about, Potter." Zabini said defiantly, taking out his own wand. Theo, however, didn't allow him do anything more.

"Expelliarmus!" Theo said, and Blaise's wand flew in some random direction.

"Oh, don't give me that." Harry said, as if nothing happened. "I am not blind you know. And besides, both me and Theo have you at our mercy."

"Fine, fine." Blaise said. "It's just, you're the best in our year, Potter, with Nott right behind you."

"Oh, and you want to be best?" Harry said, narrowing his eyes, calculating glint appearing in them.

"I want to be safe!" Blaise shouted in a whisper.

"How is this relevant to constantly watching us?" Theo asked neutrally. Blaise looked at Theo, than at Harry, whose expression hadn't changed a bit.

"Speak." Harry said coldly, whipping his own wand and pointing it at Blaise. "Or you will see just why we are at the top of the year."

"I wanted to see how you do it!" Blaise replied nervously. "You are just natural at magic and I wanted to understand why!"

Harry smirked inwardly. "Because I've been learning how to draw and control magic since I was six." he thought.

"You know what, Zabini…" Harry drawled. "I may help you. But I want your loyalty in exchange." Theo glanced at Harry questioningly, receiving a "explain you later" glance in return. On the other hand, Blaise's eyes lit up, but then he looked at Harry with confusion.

"Loyalty?" Blaise asked.

"Yes, Zabini, or do you not know the word?" Harry asked with slight annoyance.

"Shut up, Potter!" Blaise hissed. For a minute calculating expression appeared on his face. "Show me your power and what you can teach me." he said in an unwavering voice. Harry smirked.

"Incendio." he said, pointing at the chair near the three. The chair immediately caught flame and in a matter of seconds was incinerated. "Will that suffice?"

"H- how?" Blaise stuttered. "This is fourth year material. How did you do it?" he asked in awe.

"Don't stutter, Zabini, you remind me too much of Quirrell." Harry cringed his nose. "Anyway, first three years of DADA are dedicated to various dark creatures. I decided to skip it. I am still reading second year textbooks, though, but as light reading."

"You have my loyalty, Potter." Blaise said, having collected himself.

"Good to know." Harry smirked. "And you can call me Harry, and this is Theo." he gestured to Theodore, who nodded.

"You can call be Blaise." he told both boys, who nodded in return.

"Well, then, Blaise, let's go study some wards and charms…" Harry said with his smirk still present.


	7. Chapter 6 Games, slytherins play

Chapter 6. Games, slytherins play

September passed in a blur. Immersed in all the study Harry, Theo and Blaise, who became as close to friends as slytherins can, never noticed how October came.

Becoming friends with dark-skinned slyhterin was by no means an easy feat. At first Blaise was wary of Harry, even though he reluctantly followed his instructions in exchange for help. After helping the boy in a number of potentially dangerous situations, some of which Harry himself orchestrated, he managed to earn Blaise's trust. From then on molding the boy into a perfect pawn was a piece of cake. Blaise believed that Harry was his friend and friends don't lie to each other, do they?

Moreover, Harry, Theo and Blaise officially became top three students in the first year in every subject. They became somewhat respected among first-year slytherins, even if Draco Malfoy did his best to discredit them.

One morning all the first-years were gathered in the common room, where all the prefects and three seventh year students were already present. Prefects were lined up in one side of the room and three seventh-years made the other line.

"Listen up, firsties." said seventh year prefect, Edvard Attwood loudly. "Your "free month" is over. I do really hope you've learned some defense. Now I will explain the situation within Slytherin house to you." he said, looking over all of the first-years. "Your family name means nothing here, what matters are your talents and power." Mark said, looking pointedly at Malfoy, who frowned. "In order to exist semi-normally, one must join a group. Your group will look out for you… most of the time." he nodded and stepped back into the line of prefects.

"We have three groups here." said another seventh-year prefect, Melody Crawford. "Their leaders," she nodded at the line of seventh-years, "will now tell you about their respective groups. Listen carefully, you'll only be given a day to decide which group you want to join." with that she took her place in the line of prefects.

"Good morning." said one of the seventh-years, stepping forward from his line. "I am Jack Dawson, leader of the Basilisks. Our group is the largest in this house. Our main principles are: to present a united front to our enemies, never get caught and never grow soft, for we don't tolerate incompetence. We take only the best." he finished, looking at Harry, Theo and Blaise.

Introduction from the Harpies, led by Angelina Elmer, was pretty much the same, except for the fact, that their group paid more attention to studies and was often seen associating with ravenclaws. The last group, the Dark Mark, led by Elizabeth Rosier, was pretty much a club for young death eaters. Just one glare from a group leader told Harry that he was not welcome in this group.

"Alright, firsties," Mark said again, coming forward, "you have till the evening to decide, which group you want to join. We will gather you again after the evening. And choose wisely, leaving the group is considered treachery… Not that we are trustworthy in the first place." he smirked. "Anyway, you are free to go to breakfast."

* * *

Harry, Theo and Blaise were sitting at the slytherin table, as from all of their housemates as possible. They were conversing in whispers, paying no mind to the stares they were receiving.

"Where should we go?" Theo asked, picking at his food.

"Not to these junior death eaters, that's for sure." said pale-looking Blaise. "My entire family has been neutral for generations, they won't like it."

"Well, Basilisks are bent on domination in Slythgerin and Harpies are like ravenclaws in green robes…" Theo replied thoughtfully. "What do you think, Harry."

Harry glanced at Theo, then at Blaise and then back at his food, his expression unreadable.

"I won't go anywhere." he replied at last. "I want to form my own group."

"What?" Theo and Blasie asked simultaneously. "Any you crazy? The entire house will be against us!" Blasie said. Harry smirked slightly at "us".

"Not necessarily." Harry replied in his ever calm manner. "Slyhterin lacks neutrality. Basilisks are too aggressive, as are these pathetic junior death eaters. Harpies, on the other hand are too un-slytherin."

"Your point?" Theo asked.

"We will give them neutrality… At first." Harry smirked.

"Do you understand, that no one will exchange safety for neutrality?" Theo asked again.

"I do." Harry smiled. Theo and Blasie had to admit, that this smile sent creeps down their backs. "That's why we will not ask them to join officially, not yet."

"You are arranging a spy network." Blaise said. Harry nodded. "Well, how are we going to keep at least ourselves safe? I don't want to spend half of the year in the infirmary."

"I have a very special spell for this." Harry smirked. "I can't teach you… Something like a family secret." Both Theo and Blaise nodded, their expressions still doubtful.

"Are you sure, that our evasive wards will be enough?" Theo asked, looking over the table and imagining the reaction of his older housemates on their choices.

"I told you already, no." Harry said calmly. "But the answer to that problem should arrive shortly." And true to his words, hundreds of owl swept into the hall, among them a proud eagle was seen. Imperius swept down on Harry and perched on his shoulder. Harry quickly untied a small package from one of the eagle's paws.

"Here." he said, taking out three silver sickles. "These have protean charm on them. Should somebody attack you, just touch your sickle and the other two will get hot. So the other two of our small group will come to the third you rescue." Harry finished. Both Theo and Blaise looked at him questioningly. "I bought them with protean charm. It works." Harry soled his eyes.

Next happened something unexpected. A large brown owl flew past Harry and dropped a red envelope in front of him. Harry stared at the latter blankly, while Theo's and Blaise's eyes widened.

"A howler." Theo whispered. "Activates on the touch…The sooner you open I, the better, believe me." Harry just fixed his friend with a glare, that said "I know" and turned his attention back to the howler. Shrugging, he poked it with his wand. The howler sprang to life immediately.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" James Potter's voice roared, attracting attention of the entire hall. "HOW DARE YOU FRAME YOUR BROTHER LIKE THIS! ACCEPTING HIS CHALLENGE AND THEN NOT EVEN SHOWING UP AT THE DUEL!" the howler paused a bit, as if James was thinking. "AND NOT TO MENTION THAT YOU WERE SORTED IN SLYTHERIN! NO POTTER HAS EVER BEEN SORTED INTO SLYTHERIN, SUCH A DISGRACE TO THE FAMILY! YOU'D BETTER WATCH YOUR EVERY STEP FROM NOW ON, YOUNG MAN! ONE WRONG MOVE AND I DISOWN YOU FROM THE POTTER FAMILY! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!" with that the howler quieted down and landed innocently on the table. Silence reigned in the hall.

"Pathetic. Not knowing his own family history…" Harry said outloud. "Incendio." he said calmly and pointed his wand at the howler. The letter promptly burst into flames and was soon incinerated.

Harry stood up, Theo and Blaise followed. The three swept out of the still silent hall, not paying attention to all the stares they were receiving. Imperius, in the meantime was flying over the hall, trying to find the nasty owl, who dared to bring his master such a foul letter.

Severus Snape was sitting at the high table, when the mail arrived. As usual, he looked at his slytherins. His eyes spotted a majestic eagle, perched on Harry Potter's shoulder. "Arrogant brat." he thought. He didn't see, what the eagle carried, but it was clear, that Potter was plotting something. "At least he is not stupid." Snape thought. "You can't survive in Slytherin, if you aren't used to plotting."

Very soon another owl swept over the elder of the Potter twins. James Potter's owl. Next happened something, that Snape did not expect. The envelope, the owl dropped, was red. So Potter sent his son a howler. Snape listened to it till the very end, curiosity overwhelming him. He was wondering, how the Potter brat would react, would he run out of the hall crying, or maybe he will beg Dumbledore to resort him? A smirk made its way onto Snape's face.

Harry Potter's reaction was not what he expected. The boy was unfazed by his father's sreams, it seemed. Even more, he accused James Potter of not knowing his family history – one of the greatest insults to a pureblood lord. Snape involuntarily developed some respect for the boy. But then again he could shake hands with anyone, who insulted James Potter. And the boy set the letter on fire! It was a fourth-year spell, and Harry Potter of all people could already use it?! Snape couldn't help but think that the Basilisks and the Harpies will fight over the boy this evening.

* * *

"So, Harry, when will you start creating that spy network?" Blaise asked.

All three decided to skip lunch in favor of finding an abandoned classroom and plotting. The room itself was dusty, dirty and messy, but the boys weren't picky, they weren't going to set up a hideout there, after all.

"Future tense is wrong here." Harry smirked. He rolled his eyes at the looks his companions were giving him. "And here I thought that after a month my way of thinking would have rubbed on you already…" he shook his head with exaggerated disappointment. "Anyway, you should know, that I like to stay a couple of steps ahead of everyone…."

"Yeah, it's quite obvious," Theo said, "the way you study and all."

"Leave that for some ravenclaw, who gives a damn." Harry said dryly. "Back to business. I have already made some allies. Like Bulstrode, Greengrass, her personal shadow Davis and Longbottom."

"Longbottom?" Blasie asked incredulously. "That wimp from Gryffindor?"

"You are being foolish." Harry leveled the other boy with a glare. "Never underestimate anyone. We might need support in Slytherin the most, but that doesn't mean, that we should leave all the other houses to their devices without us knowing."

"How did you actually got Longbottom on your side?" Theo asked. "Blaise has a point, the wimp is a gryffindor."

"You will be surprised, just what shy boys with low self-esteem will do for at least a speck of affection," Harry smirked, "no matter how fake it is."

"You know, Harry," Theo said after a minute of staring at his friend, "sometimes you are giving me creeps." Harry's smirk grew.

"These spies make a good beginning." Harry said, breaking tension. "But not nearly enough to have adequate information on the life inside even Slytherin house, don't even bother with the entire school. We need more allies." he finished, looking pointedly at Theo and Blaise. "Find them, but don't approach them." both boys nodded.

"Well, now we just go to DADA and that stuttering fool Quirrel." Harry said, cringing his nose in disgust.

* * *

This evening everyone could practically taste tension in slytherin common room. The first-years were once again gathered, but now they were facing their entire house, divided in three groups.

"Now, first-years," said Jack Dawson, leader of the Basilisks, "it's time to make your decision." He briefly regarded fifteen children standing before him. "Just step forward to the group you want to join, and we, leaders, shall see if we want you in our groups."

Small crowd first-years promptly dispersed into three even smaller groups. From his idle observations Theo noticed, that Greengrass was joining the Basilisks, Davis went to the Harpies and Malfoy with his baboons stood in the ranks of the Dark Mark already. Fortunately, they were the only ones to join this foul group, aside from Bustrode, that is, but she was a spy.

"Harry, did you deliberately split Greengrass and Davis?" Theo asked his friend, who nodded ever so slightly. "How did you- They're- You know what, just forget it." Harry had to suppress a smirk at that.

At last, all first-years were accepted into one group or another, except for the three, who just stood in the middle of the common room with unreadable expressions on their faces.

"Potter, Nott, Zabini," Dawson said, looking at every one of the three intently, "why are you just standing there?"

"We are not joining either of your groups." Harry said impassively. "We have established one of our own."

"Oh?" Elizabeth Rosier laughed. "Ickle firsties decided they have enough power to be on their own?"

"What's the name of the group, Poter? And who's the leader?" Dawson asked, looking at Harry intently.

"Slytherin's crown and I am the leader." Harry answered, meeting the elder boy's gaze.

"Just the three of you?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Is that a problem?" Harry asked, raising his own eyebrow.

"No." Dawson shook his head. "Anyway, all leaders are to meet with professor Snape in his office." he smirked. "I wonder if you'll be able to make it that far…"

The three leaders of the bigger groups left the common room immediately after the improvised sorting ceremony. Harry, however, stayed back and gave last instructions to Theo and Blaise.

"Do not leave the common room under any circumstances." he said, looking firmly at both boys. "Other groups are much bigger and have much older students, if you leave the safety of this place…. Well, I hardly need to explain any further." Both Theo and Blaise nodded. "They will most likely try and break into our rooms." Harry smirked here. "I hope you did as I asked you and put your most prized possessions inside my room."

"Why?" Blaise asked, interrupting Harry and earning a half-hearted glare.

"Because wards on my room are a bit different from ones on yours. While my room too has a basic protection ward and evasion ward, they are modified a little. It will take hours for older years to bring down." Harry patiently replied. He wasn't going to tell them, however, that he infused his wards with his ice magic, thus making them much more stable and generally harder to even understand. "I expect to be back in an hour or so. If I am not, do not leave the common room." Both boys nodded again. "Good. I shall be going."

"Wait, Harry." Theo said in urgent whisper. "Won't other groups try to attack you on your way to Snape's office?"

"Oh, they will try." Harry smirked, his voice dripping with malice. "Whoever said they will succeed?" with that he confidently strode out of the common room and into the dungeons.

* * *

As soon as he stepped into the corridor, he was assaulted by multiple spells immediately. Harry only had a moment before a stunner would reach him. Luckily, he read books quite fast and magic came naturally to him, so with a strong "Protego" all of the spells were deflected.

"So it's five sixth-years against one first-year?" Harry asked with a smirk. "And what a testimony to your skills and power…" he drawled, enjoying the looks of shock and growing fury in their eyes. "Let me give you a chance. Run and I won't go after you."

"HA!" they laughed quite loudly. "We're terrified of an ickle firstie!"

"You had a chance." Harry said calmly. "Now there is only one road open for you…" the slytherins looked at Harry with amused expression. "To the hospital wing."

Harry waved his wand, moving his lips as if he was muttering under his breath. The same second many small snowflakes appeared behind him. That only drew more chuckles from older students.

"Oh, look here! He's going to bury us under a couple of snowflakes!"

"Is that a pink wand?"

"Oh, are you going to wear pink underwear next?"

Elemantal magic was hard to train, that much Harry knew first-hand. He only had three abilities with it: controlling temperature, making swords and making snowflakes. While the first one was not used often and the second was mostly used for intimidation, Harry's real weapon was the third ability. The thing was about these snowflakes, they were made of hardened ice, refined by Harry's raw magic, so they were hard and sharp like steel. Combined with their number, it turned said snowflakes into a tool of massacre.

Slytherins had just witnessed said massacre. Their screams ringed through the dungeon, echoing even in the common room and Snape's office, where said professor raised an eyebrow at the three students in front of him.

"I sincerely hope, that Potter won't have to spend excessively much time in the hospital wing." the professor said, eyeing Jack Dawson, Angelina Elmer and Elizabeth Rosier. The latter laughed in the manner that reminded Severus of Bellatrix Lestrange too much for his liking.

"Well, if he can't even defend himself, what a leader can he be?" she asked chuckling merrily. "A couple of days in the hospital will re-educate the filth how to stand against us."

Just as she finished speaking, there was a knock at the door. "Probably some prefect on duty to report Potter's condition." Snape thought, dreading the implications of it.

"Enter." he said in his usual manner. To professor's great surprise it wasn't a prefect, it was Potter himself, unscathed, with a calm expression on his face, as if he had just had a walk in the park.

"Good evening, Professor." Harry greeted Snape politely.

"Good, evening, Mr. Potter." Snape replied, masterfully hiding his curiosity. "I assume you haven't encountered any obstacles on the way here?"

"Not at all, professor." Harry smiled charmingly. Snape had to muster all of his endurance to not wince, the look in the boy's eyes was positively vicious, on par with a certain Dark Lord. "Though," his smile turned into a predatory smirk, "I saw five slytherins lying in front of the common room. They looked like they needed an ambulance." after receiving four confused looks, he added. "A healer."

Snape arched an eyebrow. Harry's face turned impassive and he purposely looked at Snape's forehead instead of his eyes. In the end professor hmmed and that was it. Other group leader were not that good at hiding their emotions. They were confused and surprised, some, a certain Rosier, were frowning deeply. "What a bunch of idiots," Harry thought, "one doesn't even need legillimency to read them like an open book."

"I am sure Ms. Elmer will handle it after the meeting is over." he said dismissively. Said girl just nodded, though it was obvious that she didn't like the assignment; her pride was really hurt. Harry squashed the urge to smirk and roll his eyes, the girl was too vulnerable. It was a couple of minutes and he could make a dossier on her, well on all of the three actually. Jack Dawson was better than girls at hiding his reaction, but that only helped Harry understand what kind of enemy stood in front of him.

"Now, we have a meeting to get to." Snape said, eyeing all four critically. "For the sake of our newest leader I will recite the rules once again.

Your groups are your responsibility. They screw up, you handle the consequences. I said earlier, that I do not care about your power plays, but there still are certain rules. No other houses know about what's going on inside Slytherin and I want it to remain this way. You are free to play your games as you wish, but you can't get caught by anyone other than a slytherin student or me. Slytherin common room is also a peaceful territory.

There will be certain occasions when it will be up to the group leaders to make a decision regarding our house, like choosing prefects for the next year. Your opinion weights according to the number of people in your group.

Back to what I was saying. Your groups is your responsibility. If someone from your group loses points you will get punished by me regardless of whether they had got punishment already or not.

On the other hand, your group is yours to command however you like. Whether you punish your group members or not is up to you, what your group holds a priority is also up to you. Just don't allow anyone outside Slytherin even suspect that we _have_ groups. Oh, and if you find Slytherin power plays too hard for you, you do not come whining to me. Questions?" Snape asked, looking directly at Harry. "Very well. You are to report to me in a month. Dismissed."

* * *

The road back to the common room was a calm one, no one tried to ambush Harry. It seemed, the leaders were too shocked with him tearing through their subordinates to plot anything. Harry smirked internally, that won't last forever, but at least he, Theo and Blaise are guaranteed a normal night.

"Harry!" Blaise shouted, when his friend stepped into the common room. "You're okay!"

"You expected something else?" Harry asked with amusement.

"The screams we heard, Harry," Theo remarked dryly, "they were unearthly."

"Yes, these slytherins will think twice before confronting me again." the other boy replied with a predatory smirk. "Come, we have some preparations to do."

* * *

Next morning Harry went to breakfast with Theo and Blaise beside them. It looked like Harry and his group were not the only ones to do night plotting yesterday, for they were attacked twice on their way to the great hall. Of course, now there were six more slytherins in the hospital wing, not that Harry cared.

Their rooms also turned uot to be untouched the previous evening. It surprised Harry, but he guessed it wasn't over yet. Slytherin's crown will have to establish itself in the house before they can live normal lives again

"Potter." it was Jack Dawson, standing near the great hall entrance, flanked by two members of his group. His expression was blank, his voice impassive.

"Dawson." Harry said just as impassively.

"You were lucky." the other boy said. "It won't happen again." with that Dawson and his two bodyguards went away from the hall.

* * *

"So, the basilisks are planning to raid our rooms again this night." Harry mused, looking at the note in his hand. He, Theo and Blaise were in one of the unused classrooms on the seventh floor.

"Greengrass is useful." Theo remarked casually. Harry just smirked, but then frown returned to his face.

"She is." he agreed. "But that doesn't solve all our problems. I have an idea, though." Harry's smirked turned into a vicious predatory grin. "Oh, that's ging to be one hell of a show."

"Actually, Harry, about shows…" Blaise asked carefully and Harry turned to him, "How did you bring down all those slytherins, that attacked us in the morning with just snowflakes?"

"Secret." was a short reply. "Maybe later. Meet me here in the evening. I have to go to the library."

* * *

Harry mentally thanked Merlin that it was Sunday and most of the Hogwats population went to Hogsmede, which meant that only younger members of the groups could spy and/or attack him or Blaise and Theo… which was laughable. So he made his way to the library without being constantly on guard.

Once in the library Harry found law and traditions section, where he quickly found the book on heirship and familial status. He was so immersed in his advanced studies, that he completely forgot the promise to rid himself of Potter's name. However, Harry found a book, that clearly didn't belong in this section, it was called "Northern Stone" with a snowflake on its cover. Out of curiosity, Harry grabbed this book as well.

He sat at one of the table and opened the book on heirship to read. Harry couldn't concentrate, though. The Basilisks' upcoming raid was troubling him. The three groups haven't united against Slytherin's crown yet, but he expected them at least to take some time to prepare and plot. "Well," Harry thought, grinning, "if they aren't cooperating and rushing things, then I am going to let them run into each other."

Taking out a spare bit of parchment Harry wrote in a neat cursive, making sure it didn't look like his handwriting.

" _Potter, Zabini and Nott will be hiding in room 701 today because of the raid on their rooms. They have someone inside the Basilisks and the Dark Mark. Trust no one."_

He smirked to himself. Now the only thing left was to find a messenger. And in a minute he was found. It was none other than Draco Malfoy. The boy was so engrossed into his studies, that he never noticed a folded bit of parchment flying into his bag, though he did notice this bit of parchment falling from it after said bag tripped and fell on the floor for no apparent reason.

Even though Harry made sure hide in his Theo's and Blaise's secure spot in the library, where he couldn't be noticed by anybody, he still could peak at the boy, who was frantically looking around the library, full of ravenclaws and a couple of slytherins. Finally, he picked up a bit of parchment in front of him, and a second later his eyes widened and he ran away from the library under disapproving glare of Madam Prince.

Smirking to himself, Harry went back to reading, but this time it was "Northern stone". It was a very thick and old-looking leather-bound book. On the cover one could see a silver snowflake. Harry opened it and the first thing he saw was a warning.

" _I am old, I am new, I am cold, but I will burn._

 _Heed my warning, those with warm blood,_

 _For my knowledge will freeze your soul and heart."_

"Interesting." Harry mused. "You're ice." he said to the book and caressed the page for no apparent reason. That was when he felt a pull on his magic. The page took a drop of his magic. Harry narrowed his eyes on the book. It was not what it looked, such magic was old, very old and very powerful, never to be underestimated.

The warning disappeared and in its place new text appeared. It was in the same writing.

" _Northern stone_

 _Welcome, those of cold blood_

 _This book was written in the halls of Castle Polaris, the ancient keep of ice elementals. We have always been secretive, to the point of paranoid, that is why this book is a phenomenon all on its own. I, the last of the keepers of Castle Polaris, wrote it without consent of all other masters of the castle. I am not abandoning caution, however, only the least valuable of our teachings are written here, one must travel to Castle Polaris to find more."_

That was confusing. The man wrote that he was the last of the keepers of Castle Polaris, apparently ancient citadel of ice elementals like Harry. Why would he write this? Was the castle doomed or something? Was he simply the last elemental to walk the earth? Was this title now Harry's? And if yes, then what to do?!

"Stop panicking." Harry mentally scolded himself. "Breathe." and so he did. Harry made a few deep breaths and successfully calmed himself. "There must be more here." and he continued reading.

When Harry tore himself from absolutely magnificent book, the clock in the library said that it was almost seven. He had only an hour to dinner. Deciding ot meet with Theo and Blaise, he touched his charmed sickle. Feeling it heat slightly, Harry smiled and went to the seventh floor, taking the books with him.

* * *

"So?" Blaise asked impatiently, only to be fixed with a glare.

"I hope it would work." Harry said. "That depends on Malfoy, though. However, judging by his reaction to my little note, everything will go according to plan."

"So you want him and his cronies to raid Dawson'sroom?" Theo asked incredulously.

"Yes, it will destroy what little trust and order there was between the three groups and basically, set them on each other." Harry smirked.

"But won't group leaders start investigating Malfoy?" Blaise asked critically. "Won't they find your note?"

"Who are you taking me for, Blasie?" Harry smirked again. "The note will incinerate itself as soon as Malfoy opens his bag again. That won't stop him, though, and he won't tell anyone about this, because I said, that there was a spy in the Dark Mark and inside Basilisks too. It will look like he wanted to search Dawson's room and didn't care about his group."

"And no one will be happy." Blasie finished. "The raid will most likely be postponed with all the negotiations, Dawson will have to lead…"

"No, they will raid our rooms tonight." Harry said grimly. "There's nothing we can do to protect our things, but we will protect ourselves. All this thing with Malfoy is for long-term plans."

"But-" Theo said confused.

"I will use my snowflake-massacre machine." Harry replied with a smirk. "There are situations, solved by manipulations and intrigues, but that is not the case. When your foe disregards everything and goes against you with brute force, you will have to answer likewise. Basilisks think they are the most powerful group in Slytherin. Time to show them why they are wrong." The smirk disappeared from Harry's face. Blaise and Theo understood that their friend liked this solution no more than they did, but they had no choice.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Smith1177:** You will have to wait and see. I am not going to confess all my plans here. *smiles*

 **Once again, thank you everyone for your reviews.**


	8. Interlude: other sides

Interlude: other sides

The air in the room was clear, the windows on one side bathed the room in sunlight. A table stood in the very middle with about two dozen people seated around it. At the head sat none other than Albus Dumbledore, who was in a very good mood.

"So, my dear professors," he said merrily, "let us begin our staff meeting. First, we shall speak of the first-years. It has been a month since the term started, now I would like to know how they are adjusting to life in Hogwarts."

After all heads of houses reported, that all of their charges were fitting in their respective houses splendidly, headmaster spoke once again.

"Wonderful." he smiled. "Now, are there any particularly talented students?" Dumbledore asked, looking over his employees.

"Actually, yes." Minerva said after contemplating for a second. "Ms. Granger. She seems to have remarkable intelligence and talent."

"I actually agree, she outperforms many of my ravens, if not all." said Flitwick with small amount of envy.

"I agree as well." nodded Sprout.

"Oh please," sneered Snape, "since when ability to quote books is called intelligence and talent?" he fixed all of his colleagues with a stare that spoke of the professor's opinion of them. "Harry Potter – that is the real talent." Snape promptly ignored now gaping professors. "Yes, I am praising a Potter." he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, speaking of Potters, I simply have to mention Eric Potter." McGonagall said suddenly. "He is clearly more advanced than his fellow first-years."

Snape just sneered at his colleague, again. "Oh please, Minerva. We both know, that top three students of his year are Harry Potter, Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini." he finished somewhat smugly.

"Well, if you put it like this…" McGonagall's lips thinned.

"I have to agree with Severus, Minerva." Dumbledore interjected. "The marks speak for themselves, not to mention young Mr. Potter using "incendio" in the great hall." Albus rubbed his hands together and smiled. "Well, I believe that will be all for our first-years, let us move to other topics…"

During the meeting Snape was watching the headmaster. Look of curiosity and disappointment crossed the old man's face, after all, only McGonagall and only as a last resort to outplay Severus said that Eric Potter had some talent. Not surprising, though. Everyone knew, that the boy was tutored by Dumbledore and expected better performance, not some slightly above average results.

It didn't escape Severus's attention, that his colleagues weren't singing praises to Harry Potter's skills, instead praising Granger. Haw curious… Snape would be the first to say, that Harry Potter wasn't a jack-of-all-traits, the boy was very god at charms and transfiguration and everything, that has to do with spells, yet his brewing skills were mediocre and in subjects like astronomy he was onlyslightly above average. But still, if professors called Granger talented, then Harry Potter was a genius, as much as Severus loathed admitting it, no matter that this Potter spawn was one of his slytherins.

* * *

"So, Severus, what can you tell me about young Eric and Harry Potter?" Dumbledore asked when the two entered his office. It looked just like usual, with many books, paintings, headmaster's chair and table and, of course, a phoenix.

Severus mentally snorted. Albus knew to hold potions master's praises in a little bit higher regard. Other professors tended to call any exceeding results a talent, but Severus only called someone talented, when there was an undeniable proof of it.

"Eric Potter is nothing special." Snape said as he seated himself in front of the headmaster. "He may have been called a prodigy, had he not been trained under you since he was six… and had there not been Ms. Granger and Mr. Harry Potter… and his group of… friends. I am not going to describe his attitude or personality – you and I both know it's a waste of time."

Albus just nodded, motioning Snape to continue.

"His brother, though, is quite powerful and talented." potions master looked like he swallowed some skelegrow. "As much as I loath to admit, he has both intelligence and knowledge. He also knows about occlumency and legillimency." Snape looked at headmaster's arched eyebrow.

"Interesting." Dumbledore mused. "I take it you concluded that because he seems to never look someone in the eye?"

"Not only because of it." Snape replied. "He only stopped looking anyone in the eye after I attempted to read his mind during the feast."

"Oh?"

"He broke the connection very fast, but the last thought I heard was "Legillimency!" in a very panicked voice, shrill more likely." Snape smirked. "And that's where we come to his character."

Dumbledore nodded again.

"He is more or less, a loner." Snape said and paused. "Aside from Mr. Nott and Mr. Zabini he doesn't associate with anyone. And what I've seen in his mind during what little contact we had…" he suddenly stopped, his face turning pensive.

"Is something bothering you, Severus?" Dumbledore asked with concern.

"Actually, yes, Albus." Snape nodded. "Potter's mind has some primitive structure. I can only assume that he started learning occlumency very recently." he stopped, contemplating something. "But I was able to catch a glimpse of his domestic life. It's disturbing, Albus." Snape looked pointedly at the headmaster.

"What is it, Severus?"

"The boy is being abused by his relatives." the professor answered gravely. Dumbledore sighed and bowed his head.

"Are you sure?" headmaster asked.

"Of course I am." Severus scoffed.

"You say he is talented?" Dumbledore asked suddenly. Snape looked at headmaster pointedly and sighed, trust the man to change the topic and pretend everything is hunky-dory.

"Not in every subject, but yes." Snape nodded. Albus just raised an eyebrow. "I would say, that he has talent for transfiguration and charms… and obviously runes and arithmacy." Severus added after some contemplation.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Albus asked in a very curious tone.

"Albus, do you remember, that every slyhterin student gats his or her own room?" Snape asked, Dumbledore just nodded. "Well, they always put wards around it. Most would pick up some primitive book on runes and cast some pathetic protection ward. Harry Potter took completely different approach." Snape sighed again. "He successfully put up evasion wards around his own room and rooms of his friends."

Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly.

"Fisrt-years managed to raise evasion wards?" headmaster asked in slight awe.

"Indeed." Severus nodded, looking pointedly at Dumbledore.

"Very well, Severus, thank you." headmaster nodded and stood up to leave the classroom. "Oh, and Severus, do tell me which group young Mr. Potter joins, will you?" Potions master could just nod.

When Dumbledore left, Snape also stood up and turned to leave the room. He did not tell headmaster, that Potter modified his ward somehow, but that was not important right now. What was important, though, was the fact, that Dumbledore had just turned a blind eye on child abuse. Potter or not, children didn't deserve such life. Severus walked to the dungeons, locking these thoughts behind his occlumency shields for now. He had a group leaders' meeting to attend.

* * *

The next morning the great hall was a buzz of whispers and conversations as usual. But the topic, though, was most unusual. It all revolved around one student – Harry Potter. His demonstration of a fire charm the previous day did not go unnoticed by other houses.

Slytherins naturally, saw a potential good ally or a bad enemy. Ravenclaw first-years understood that none of them would be the first in their year, ever. Even before the previous day there were rumors, that the elder of the Potter twins was some kind of a prodigy, but no one could confirm them. Now, though, everyone had all confirmation they could receive. One look at their table would let everyone understand, what their first-years thought of that morning.

Hufflepaffs did not react at all. To them Harry Potter was just a prodigy. He and his friends Zabini and Nott did not pick up on them and that was enough for the house of loyalty to return the favor and act civilly towards the three.

Gryffindors' reaction was one of the most noticeable. One could still hear Ronald Weasley complain about dark wizards and cheaters. Other griffindors just didn't trust slytherins.

Eric was at first green with jealousy, but then it hit him. He had six years of training and couldn't do anything beyond first year curriculum. Harry, on the other hand, did not have any training prior to this year and managed to cast a fourth year spell. No scratch that, he had knowledge and _power_ to cast this spell! Eric's jealousy subsided over the night and he decided to just not pick any more fights with his brother. That way their experience at Hogwarts will be much more enjoyable.

All in all, general reaction of the houses was just as Harry expected.

The following day Harry received a letter, delivered to him by a barn owl. It was addressed to him. But who would write him besides Gringotts? Harry promptly put the letter in his bag and went to the first lesson that day. Only on history of magic would he open the letter, and wish he didn't.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I must apologize for your father's child behavior. Rest assured I have reprimanded him for that and he sends his sincere appologiy._

 _Please, Harry, do not think worse of James just because of that howler. He is a rush person, who is easily swayed by emotion. All his life he met and battled slytherin supporters of You-Know-Who. His own son sorted into that house just was a shock for him._

 _We both congratulate you on being sorted into Slytherin and wish you luck._

 _With love,_

 _Your mother,_

 _Lily._

Harry scoffed at the letter and put it back into the bag. This letter did nothing to change his opinion on his parents. Oh well, all the more practice with vanishing spells.

The idea of apologizing in another person's letter, though, was funny. Did his so-called mother really think he would believe such a load of rubbish? If James Potter cared enough to apologize, he would do it himself, in his own letter. And not to mention, that the threat of disowning wasn't withdrawn. Harry sighed. It was too much for one day, especially when he received a message from Greengrass about the upcoming attack of the Basilisks. He would think about his "parents" after the threat of Basilisks was neutralized.

* * *

 **AN: I understand, that many of you expected something longer and altoghther better than some filler. What can I say? I tried to include these scenes in chapter 7, but they just seemed out of place there but I still wanted to include them into the fanfic. And yes, chapter 7 will be published soon... hopefully.**


	9. Chapter 7 Learning and scheming

Chapter 7. Learning and scheming

Almost a month after the sorting of first-year Slytherins in their respective groups things couldn't have gone better for Harry, Blaise and Theo. The attack of Basilisks was brutally destroyed by Harry and his mysterious snowflake-massacre machine, as everyone in Slytherin referred to it now. Since then all of the Slytherin house groups left the Slytherin's Crown alone.

Not for everyone were things going well, however. One Draco Malfoy was now a shadow of his former pompous self. During the Basilisks' attack on Harry's room Draco tried to sneak into Jack Dawson's room. He was caught, naturally, and the relationship between the Dark Mark and the Basilisks hasn't recovered since. The groups were now in a state of cold war. Harry would always smile slightly every time he saw Jack Dawson and Elizabeth Rosier meet in one room. Tension was so think one could cut it with a knife. And to think that one single note sent to a right person could do so much damage. Bulstrode's and Greengrass's work might have had something to do with it, since they both did their best to influence their groupmates into hating the Basilisks and the Dark Mark respectfully.

Occlumency training was going well. Harry started ordering his mind as he wanted it to be. Before that, all of his memories were assembled in chronological order. Now was one of the trickiest parts of liquid Occlumency: he had to somehow labeled all of his memories as either significant or insignificant and then brought the significant ones to the center of his mind, creating a core, so to speak. Next he would have to envelop said core within a layer of insignificant memories. That in itself would grant his mind very little defense, but then would be the last and the hardest step – making all important memories transparent, make them gas-like, while giving liquid qualities to all the insignificant memories. Harry didn't expect to reach the next step very soon. Creating a core was described as a very complicated process, one that required a lot of time and incredible concentration.

The past month also helped Theo and Blaise find the areas of magic where they excelled. Theo turned out to be almost a genius in Potions and Blaise was more than proficient in Defence (especially after Harry gave him all of his advanced books on the subject).

Harry found that he very much enjoyed Charms and Transfiguration, and had to steal "Transfiguration in Combat" from the library. He cut short his studying of DADA fourth year textbook to have time to practice everything from the stolen book. Harry couldn't perform many spells from this book, but he did master all of his first year spells and they even had various combat applications.

"Transfiguration in Combat" also demanded a certain level of proficiency in Charms, so Harry decided to dedicate these two subjects, Transfiguration and Charms, most of his time.

Between Occlumency practicing and studying charms and transfiguration, Harry never noticed how November came. Well, almost hadn't noticed. There was one incident in October, during their first flying lesson.

Harry's, Theo's, and Blaise's brooms came to their hands the moment they said "up", just like Malfoy's and Eric's brooms. It was promising to be an interesting lesson, when Longbottom lost control of his broom and fell from it, breaking his wrist upon landing. Madam Hooch immediately took him to the hospital wing after threatening all the first-years with a glare that would make Snape blush.

They were threatened with being expelled from Hogwarts, if they so much as mounted their brooms, so naturally Eric and Draco had to race. Apparently the reason was Neville's remembrall. Harry almost panicked for a second, but that's when his reading of "Transfiguration in Combat" proved its worth. While the book was dedicated to Transfiguration in dueling, it also had descriptions of many spells, since it was written for third- or fourth-years, who could not know all the spells they would need. Harry remembered practicing the Summoning Charm. He hadn't mastered it yet then, but it was that or losing the remembrall and consequently his spy among Gryffindors.

To his great surprise, the charm worked perfectly and not a minute after Malfoy and Eric were in the air, the remembrall was in Harry's hand and a furious McGonagall was scolding the two fools a couple of minutes later. To his surprise Harry later found out, that his brother wasn't punished at all, instead McGonnagal made him seeker for Gryffindor quidditch team.

That incident reminded Harry exactly how much time he spent in Hogwarts. That forced him to reevaluate his study schedule. He decided to drop DADA books and instead concentrate on second year Charms and Transfiguration textbooks. These spells came much easier to Harry, and he covered half of each book in a mere three weeks!

Theo and Blaise also studied their best subjects and would always brag about their success, making Harry grin from time to time. Harry had to remind himself more and more often, that the two were not his friends; they were tools, and each time he found it harder to believe that line. Who knew, maybe these two wouldn't betray him like everyone else did.

"Harry!" Theo shook his friend out of his musings.

"What?" Harry asked, looking at Theo in confusion. "Why did you shake me?"

"We've been trying to snap you out of whatever you were doing for a couple of minutes," Blaise said, drawing Harry's attention to him, "we have only five minutes until the Charms lesson begins." he finished off-handedly. Harry's eyes widened slightly.

"Then we cannot be late." Harry said, taking off for charms classroom. "I don't want to miss our first practical lesson."

"Why?" Theo asked in confusion. "You have been studying second year charms and one fourth-year charm all this time. What does it matter to you?"

"Oh, I simply want to show Granger her place." Harry smirked. "Her constant quotes during theoretical lessons are extremely annoying. Maybe she will learn that it doesn't matter if you have learned your textbook by heart if someone shows her up…"

Theo and Blaise smirked in return.

* * *

The class was just as exciting as usual, meaning dull. Flitwick spent half of the lesson reminding his students how to properly "swish and flick". Harry wanted to hex the man, only the fact that Flitwick was a professor and a dueling champion stopped him. At long last, practical part began.

Harry lazily observed other students struggling with the charm. Blaise and Theo sat near him and waited for their friend to perform the spell. Flitwick noticed lack of action from the three and addressed them.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Nott and Mr. Zabini." he said in his stern voice, the sternness was sabotaged by squeakiness of the professor's voice. "Do start practicing, or I will have to take points from Slytherin."

Harry noticed how Eric and Ron stopped their futile attempt at making the feather float, as did Granger. He smirked slightly, glancing at Theo and Blaise.

"Shall we?" Harry asked. Both boys nodded with identical smirks.

The three synchronically raised their wands and performed the necessary wand movements. Three voices chanted "Wingardium Leviosa" and three feathers sailed upwards synchronically and started flying one after another in circles. The rest of the class could only gape, while Flitwick eyed the three with glee.

"Wonderful!" he squeaked. "Fifteen points to Slytherin!" he said as three feathers landed in front of their respective students.

Harry smirked at Granger and enjoyed the look of envy and frustration on her face. The rest of the lesson Harry, Theo and Blaise spent reading their books on their favorite subjects.

After the class was over Harry absently noticed Granger running away in tears. He arched an eyebrow at that. Surely, his success could do that to her? Then he noticed a very guilty look on Weasley's face. He remembered, that the girl sat with this idiot during charms and he actually said something to her that caused the girl look at him with a betrayed look and stop attempting to make her feather fly.

"That had to be Weasley." Harry concluded. "Oh well, let the foolish girl cry if she still hasn't learned to ignore idiotic comments from brainless fools." With a merry tune of Granger's sobs Harry made his way to the great hall.

Evening arrived soon and Harry noticed, that he had once again lost track of time. It was Halloween! The great hall was decorated with flying jack-o-lanterns, colonies of bats and lots of pumpkins with faces carved on them.

For Slytherins, celebrations like these had a special meaning. Usually everyone sat at the Slytherin table as they pleased, but during celebrations a special hierarchy was in power. All the group leaders sat on the teacher's end of the table, while their groups sat further down. These times were used by leaders for "official discussions" under the Muffliato Charm.

Harry sat with Jack Dawson, across from them sat Elizabeth Rosier and Angelina Elmer. The group of leaders was mostly silent, until Dawson started speaking.

"Such a good evening." he said. "I hope no first-year will be sent to my room to try and ransack it."

"I told you we did no such thing." snapped Rosier. "It was all Malfoy's initiative."

"It is so easy to use a firstie as a scapegoat…" Dawson said coldly.

Harry almost rolled his eyes. Could Rosier not see that she was being provoked? It was obvious, that Dawson had something up his sleeve. It promised something big, and Harry did not like not knowing anything about it at all. Was Dawson trying to get Rosier into trouble or was it something about the Dark Mark? Was Dawson trying to declare war on them? That would be entertaining, but it also required action on Harry's part, and fast.

If war was indeed coming, then Harry had to involve the Harpies in it. He couldn't afford any other neutral party aside from Slytherin's Crown. Tracy Davis will have work to do, as well as Greengrass… On the other hand, the Harpies might already be involved.

Suddenly the doors of the great hall swung open and a panicking Quirrel ran inside, screaming.

"Troll in the dungeons!" he screamed. "Troll! Thought you should know…" and he fainted. Harry rolled his eyes. Wasn't Quirrel a defense teacher? Wasn't he supposed to know at least a dozen ways of how to dispose of a troll? But then again, the man was pathetic.

The rest of the hall wasn't as calm as Harry was, though, and promptly, panic started. Finally, Dumbledore stood up.

"Silence!" his magically enhanced voice boomed. Everyone stopped at looked at the headmaster expectantly. "Prefects, show the students to their dormitories. Teachers, please follow me to the dungeons."

"But our dorms are in the dungeons!" Harry thought. "Oh well, I guess the whole house of Slytherin should be able to take on a troll… Maybe I could gather some potions ingredients for Theo…"

The road to the dungeons proved to be a disappointment to Harry. The Slytherins did not encounter any trolls, and safely reached their common room, where Harry, Theo and Blaise excused themselves and left for Harry's room.

"What's so urgent?" Theo asked as soon as the door closed.

"Dawson." Harry answered solemnly. "He is up to something. Something to do with the Dark Mark, and probably the Harpies."

"So?" Blaise asked, arching an eyebrow at Harry.

"So, keep an eye on these groups. Theo – you watch the Dark Mark, Blaise – Basilisks are on you. I will contact our dearest spies tomorrow."

* * *

The next morning found Harry in the great hall peacefully having breakfast in the company of Theo and Blaise. The peace and quiet didn't last long, though. To Harry's surprise, when post arrived, one of the owls landed in front of him and held out its paw with a letter attached to it. He eyed the letter suspiciously, and then untied it. After looking over the envelope Harry groaned quietly.

"What's wrong?" Blaise asked.

"It's from Lily Potter…" Harry said in exasperated voice. "Again…" sighing, he opened the envelope and started reading.

 _"_ _Dear Harry,_

 _You haven't replied to the letter I sent a month earlier. Please write us, we would like to know how you are doing. I hope you are not up to no good? How are your studies? What about your friends?_

 _Please write me soon._

 _With love,_

 _Your mother,_

 _Lily"_

Harry scoffed and vanished the letter. Theo looked at the spot where the letter was in slight awe.

"Vanishing?" he asked.

"I've had a lot of practice." Harry smirked, gesturing to the place where the letter used to be. With smirk still present, he stood up and left the hall. No one ever noticed how a small slip of parchment floated from his pocket into Greengrass's bag, or Davis's bag, when he was passing the pair. The girls would only notice in the first class.

* * *

"You wanted to meet with us." Daphne stated, looking Harry in the eye. Tracey was copying her friend's posture. Both girls stood like the pureblood ladies they were and looked down at Harry, only literally, though. Both of them understood that they couldn't really treat the one who sent more than a dozen upper years students in the hospital wing, as anything less than an equal. Besides, the fact of looking down at Harry was negated by him being seated, while the girls stood.

"I did." Harry replied and gestured for the girls to sit. The three were now in "Harry's" secluded spot in the library.

"You understand the risk, don't you, Potter?" Tracey asked. "If we are found here with you-"

"I do." Harry cut her off. "Now I want to know what Basilisks are up to and what Harpies are up to." he said with a frown and looked at first at Daphne and then at Tracey.

"Hmm." Daphne frowned as well. "Dawson didn't tell us anything exact, but he did say to gear up. That's about all I know." she shrugged. Harry nodded and looked at Tracey.

"Nothing specific, either." Tracey shrugged. "But Angelina has been going out of her way to emphasize, how bad the Dark Mark is. But then again, she said the same about Slytherin's Crown."

Harry frowned. That was good and bad at the same time. On one hand it looked like Basilisks and Harpies were going to wage war on the Dark Mark, on the other hand it was unclear if they were going full-out against Slytherin's Crown as well.

The latest Basilisks' attack on his room Harry used to send a message to other groups, that they won't be able to get rid of his group that easily. It wasn't hard to defend then, because the raid mostly consisted of third- and fourth-years. But a full-out attack with seventh-years as a spear-head... That made Harry nervous.

"I don't care what you do, Davis, Greengrass, you must discredit Harpies and Basilisks in each other's eyes. Our very existence depends on it. I'd rather the three big groups fought with each other, than with us. That's all." Harry said with a very deep frown.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Tracey said in annoyance.

"I don't care." Harry snapped, though he didn't raise his voice above whisper. "Poison somebody from Basilisks and frame someone from the Harpies and vice-versa. Do whatever you want to ruin the Harpies-Basilisks alliance."

Both girls were frowning, but hesitantly nodded. Harry nodded stiffly in return and left quickly.

All November had been quiet and no group made a move against another, yet. Harry spent all the time studying Transfiguration and Charms, as well as practicing Occlumency. He was quite proud to say, that he was half-way through with labeling his memories. It was exhausting, but well-worth it. It was frustrating as well, though. The more memories Harry labeled, the more turned back into misty mess overnight, and everything had to be done again.

It became rather hard to practice spells in his room, however, so in the beginning of December Harry found himself in need of a practice room. Fortunately, he found an unused classroom on the second floor and adapted it to his needs. Third-year spells demanded a lot of space, so Harry had additional practice with various vanishing and destruction spells.

Theo and Blaise also dedicated their time to studying. They were finished with their second year textbooks as well, though they couldn't practice, since Theo needed ingredients and Blaise needed dummies, none of which could be inconspicuously obtained in Hogwarts. They promised, however, to practice during holidays.

In the beginning of December students took preliminary tests to determine their knowledge of subjects. Harry was a proud number one in the first year, followed by Theo, Blaise, Granger and Eric. While Harry wasn't first in every subject, he still managed to get best marks in Charms and Transfiguration. Theo was first in Potions and Blaise was first in Defence. On the other hand, Granger's face when she learned that she wasn't first in any subject was priceless.

* * *

Very quickly, Christmas rolled around. It was time for many students to depart back home for holidays. Harry was the only one staying in Hogwarts from Slytherin. To his great pleasure James, Lily and Weasley family decided to visit Charley Weasley in Romania, so all the Weasleys in Hogwarts and Eric were leaving. That certainly promised a good Christmas.

When everyone finally left Harry went straight to reading. He was going to use every minute of holidays to work. He started practicing spells from third year Transfiguration and Charms, as well as continued reading "Transfiguration in Combat". This was not all Harry did, however. He wanted to read something else, two books he had forgotten about during the term: on wizarding law and traditions, and the one on ice elementals.

On Christmas morning Harry woke up early as usual. He was very surprised to find presents with his name in the common room. Cautiously he made his way towards them and examined each box carefully. He had three in total: one from Blaise, one from Theo, and one from his so-called parents. The first reaction was a very strong desire to practice Incendio on the last gift, but it was quickly squashed by Harry's rational-self. Anything could be useful.

Harry opened present from Blaise first. It turned out to be "Offensive Magic" by Richard Longrom – a dueling champion of Europe in 1675. Theo's present was also a book, but this one was on Ancient Runes, Scandinavian runes, to be precise. Harry grinned at the book, those two definitely knew what he liked. Which wasn't all that surprising, they were his friends after all. … "Wait, did I just say 'friends' about Theo and Blaise?" Harry asked himself. He smirked. "Yes I did."

At last he opened the last present. It was a book, surprisingly enough. How did they learn he liked reading? Did Eric tell them? The book was on advanced charms. A letter was attached to it.

 _"_ _Dear Harry,"_

It was Lily's handwriting again. Harry's face automatically turned into a sneer.

 _"_ _Merry Christmas to you. I must say that I was very disappointed when you didn't write back to me, at all. I was even more disappointed, when I learned, that you wanted to stay in Hogwarts instead of joining us in Romania, but we can't make you, I guess._

 _I understand, that you do not exactly like us. I understand, that us leaving you at my sister's home wasn't our best idea, and I don't think you will forget or forgive it soon. But still, I can wait._

 _Anyway, I received your marks. I must say I am very impressed, and very proud of you, even though you might think that I have no right to be. Regardless of that, I understand, that you like Transfiguration and Defense in particular, so I sent you my own copy of "Advanced Charms" with my notes._

 _Merry Christmas, Harry._

 _With love,_

 _Your mother,_

 _Lily"_

Harry's sneer all but disappeared in the end, replaced by an unreadable expression. Harry vanished the letter again, but took a closer look at the Charms book. He scanned through the pages and indeed, all free space was covered in Lily's neat handwriting. Harry took a deep breath, muttering "origins don't matter if it's useful" under his breath and took all the presents into his room.

* * *

This morning Harry quickly made his way to the great hall, where all the tables were replaced with only one, where all the professors and few students that remained in school were seated.

"Ah, young Mr. Potter!" Dumbledore exclaimed merrily, "Merry Christmas to you!"

"Merry Christmas to you as well, Headmaster." Harry said calmly and nodded. He took a seat near one of the Ravenclaws.

"Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, smiling slightly at Harry, "I am very impressed by your preliminary examination result in my subjects. The way you turned that feather into such a magnificent goblet. I believe I have never had a student as talented as you, maybe your father..."

Harry smiled softly at that. The smile was fake, of course, but Harry was a very good actor. He noticed that McGonagalls attitude towards him shifted from neutral to good during the term, and couldn't help smirking internally, the part about James Potter quickly forgotten (or not even noticed).

"Thank you for your praise, Professor." he nodded.

"I can only agree with Minerva and say the same about you." Flitwick said suddenly. "How you made a pineapple dance in midair instead of levitating it, that is supposed to be on your end-of-year exam! Did you read and practice ahead of classes, Mr. Potter?"

"I did." Harry smiled again. "In both Charms and Transfiguration." he added under McGonagall's questioning gaze.

"I gather you have started reading your second year textbooks, Mr. Potter? McGonagall said. Harry couldn't help but notice Headmaster's twinkling eyes. The man was clearly up to something. Why did Harry have this uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach?

"Yes, Professor." he nodded solemnly.

"Oh, there is nothing to be ashamed of, my boy." Dumbledore said kindly. "I remember how I did the same. I must say, it is always pleasant to see talented young men striving to learn more."

"Indeed it is." said McGonagall, her smile not dropping. "Perhaps we could organize some special classes for you when you start your second year." Flitwick nodded. "Would you like that, Mr. Potter?"

Harry thought for a moment. If he agreed, he would have to move at their pace. If he didn't, it would raise suspicions. But still, even if he did agree to this proposal, he would be able to adjust their pace to his own, and having such good instructors as McGonagall and Flitwick was always good. Harry smiled again.

"I would love that." he nodded slightly. "Thank you, Professors, I won't disappoint you." he said, faking eagerness.

Snape's cold, calculating gaze was not lost to Harry and neither were the glances some students tried to sneak at him when they thought he wasn't looking.

* * *

The rest of the break was spent reading. Harry put on hold his magic studies and focused instead on the book on elementals.

 _"_ _Wizards think that the only 'true' magic is the one they wield, the one that requires a wand. They are wrong. Elementals are wizards, who can command one of the elements of nature. You, reader, must understand, that we are not normal wizards, though; our very souls are intertwined with our element. Which means, that our element inevitably influences our personalities to some extent. That also means that we cannot be harmed by our element. The only exception to this rule is when our element has magic of other elemental wizards behind it._

 _Wizards created their cultures long before muggles did, and even then they did not like us. We faced prejudice and ridicule. We were treated like werewolves and other dangerous magical creatures. One does not need to explain how disgusted we were. That is why we created our own civilizations, isolated and hidden from even wizards._

 _Nowadays only six civilizations are still present, though long ago there were dozens. Castle Polaris is the community of Ice Elementals, reigned over by the Eternal Throne. The city of Flamma, situated inside Mount Vesuvius, governed by the Phoenix Council, is the community of Fire Elementals. The community of Water Elementals is the truth behind the myth of Atlantis. No one knows anything about it, for they have not maintained contact even with other elemental wizards. The community of Wind Elementals is situated somewhere in the Himalayas, and they are also very secretive. There are also two communities of Earth Elementals, both situated somewhere in South America. They prefer to hide from everyone, but it is known that their civilization is very tribe-like."_

"Huh", Harry thought, "so there are hundreds of other elementals."

 _"_ _I am an Ice Elemental and I am one of the masters of Castle Polaris. It is imperative, that nobody knows the exact location of our community, so you will not be able to read the following sentence until you master Occlumency. (gibberish)"_

"Oh great," Harry sighed in irritation, "now I won't get anywhere with this."

The next day he started reading the book on law and tradition. By the end of the holidays, Harry was quite proficient in both fields, but still didn't know how he could change his name without Potters' agreement or even knowledge.

Eventually Christmas break came to an end and Harry went back to his studying.

* * *

 **AN: I have finally found a beta: VocalAurora, who I thank for proofreading this chapter. The chapter has been updated after the beta read through it (our discussions was the main reason why the chapter wasn't published for so long and in the end VocalAurora just didn't have time to read it and I, though also did not have enough time to proofread the chapter well enough, didn't have enough patience to not publish it). Since we have reached an accord, I hope that next chapters will be published faster.**

 **sanbeegoldiewhitey: Ah, but I didn't really mention Dumbledore's role in Harry being left at the Dursleys, now did I?**


	10. Chapter 8 Crown and Basilisk

Chapter 8. Crown and Basilisk

Daphnie grumbled as she laced the door handle to Dawson's room with poison. It was a very tricky piece of magic for her, but she did spend the last three weeks practicing it. During the holidays she and her parents visited Knockturn Alley, and while the adults were minding their business, Daphnie quickly bought a vial of poison. The seller wanted to complain, but a bag of gold quickly silenced him.

The poison Daphnie used was based on basilisk venom, and thus was a very fatal one. However, it was modified to penetrate skin, so one touch of this poison would be enough to demonstrate all of the effects of basilisk poison on the unfortunate victim.

Finally, the liquid covered the entirety of the handle and was absorbed by the metal. Daphnie grinned and quickly left when she heard footsteps. Luckily it wasn't Dawson. Daphnie wanted to have a very good alibi when her group leader died.

An hour later found Tracy Davis in the common room. She was just passing by the bag of one of the sixth-years, Penelope Grover. Nobody noticed a small used vial slipping out of the bag into Tracey's hands. The girl in question internally smirked and went to her room.

"You got it?" Daphnie asked as soon as Tracey entered the room.

"Yep." Tracey smiled and put the vial on the table in front of Daphnie.

"Good." Daphnie sighed. "Now we wait for Harry." Just as she said that, a knock on the door was heard. Tracey opened it, but there was nothing there. She was surprised, but shrugged and closed the door. When she did and turned around she let out a shriek of surprise, Harry was standing in front of the vial and studying it curiously.

"Harry!" Tracey exclaimed.

"You need to learn from Daphnie how to keep a poker-face in all situations." Harry said absent-mindedly, not even looking up from the vial in front of him. "Daphnie, where is the vial from the poison you used?"

"Right here." Daphnie replied and placed the vial with the remnants of a green liquid on the table.

"Do you have another one?" Harry asked, still not looking up from the vials he studied.

"I bought two, like you asked." Daphnie replied, putting another vial full of green liquid on the table. Harry smiled in a very disturbing manner.

"Good." he nodded. "Now step away from the table. Things are about to get dangerous." Both girls complied and sat on Tracey's bed.

Harry took out his wand and vanished all traces of the previous potion from Grover's vial. He smirked at the now crystal-clear piece of glass. Then he carefully opened the vial full of poison. A simple wave of his wand and a spoonful of green liquid flew into Grover's vial. Harry corked both the vial with poison and Grover's vial. A smile graced his lips. Another wave of a cherry wand lifted the now not so clear vial in the air and made it spin in random directions rather quickly.

"Um, Harry, what are you doing?" Daphnie asked.

"I am making sure that any truth serum indicates that this Grover girl is a killer." Harry shortly replied, not turning away from the spinning vial.

"Um, how can you trick a truth serum?" Tracey asked. "I mean, it's the purpose of truth serums to force one to tell the truth, right?"

"The truth to the extent of one's beliefs." Harry smirked.

"You are going to alter her memories?" Daphnie in shock.

"Of course not." Harry waved her off. "I haven't mastered memory charms to that extent yet. But I do know a very good compulsion spell."

"But any seventh-year will most likely notice it." Tracey objected.

"Yes," Harry nodded, "If I put it directly on the girl. But I had Theo take her quill for me."

"And how exactly will that help?" Daphnie asked in skeptical tone.

"A compulsion charm is one tricky piece of magic." Harry started. "It is used when somebody wants to influence a person's actions. It is usually applied straight on a person. However that is not the main, nor the only, use of said charm. Compulsion charms were invented to influence a person's mind. I put it on Grover's quill when you told me of your plan in January. And then I had that quill returned to the poor girl. She has been using it for a month. That is more than enough for a compulsion charm to make her think that she tried to kill Dawson and she tried to do it with the poison in this vial." Harry pointed at the spinning vial. He waved his wand again and it finally stopped. "I extinguished the charm today. That means, if nothing reminds the girl of her actions, then the effects of the charm will wear off with time. However with this vial… it is not likely." He turned to the girls and smirked.

"What about Snape?" asked Tracey. "He's a legilimens."

"He is." Harry nodded. "But one's mind is such a complicated thing, that it is impossible to penetrate completely if you are not a master of Dumbledore's level or if you don't use active legilimency – the spell. As it is, Snape will be able to look in her eyes and will feel a sense of honesty coming from the girl's mind… maybe regret or something else, but that is irrelevant."

"Wow, Harry." Tracey said. "It is actually quite unsettling to know that you can frame anyone and do it successfully."

"You have nothing to worry about, ladies." Harry said, turning back to the vials. He carefully uncorked Grover's vial and poured the poison into Daphnie's empty vial. He smirked, corking both vials. "Though you have to keep it in mind, that truth can be hidden from anyone, and every tool, be it spell or potion, can be fooled."

"Daphnie, I am taking both vials." Harry said plainly. Daphnie just nodded. "And now I have to clear both of your memories, else you will spill the beans under a truth serum."

Tracey and Daphnie looked at each other with uncertainty, but then nodded.

"Good." Harry said. "Now, Tracey, open the door, but just enough for me to slip through."

Tracey did as asked and sat back on her bed, looking at Harry curiously.

"I will try to return you these memories as soon as I master memory charms completely." Harry reassured his followers. "Here goes." He pointed his wand at the girls. "Obliviate."

Both Daphnie's and Tracey's eyes became glazed as Harry removed all memories of anything that had to do with killing Dawson, even the one of their immediate talk. When he was satisfied with his job, Harry disillusioned himself and left the room.

Daphnie blinked. "Tracey, what are we doing here?" she asked.

"I… don't know, Daphnie…" Tracey stuttered. "Why is my door open?"

xxx

Meanwhile Harry casually strolled over to the common room and carefully placed Grover's vial back into her bag. He could always use any vial with poison, but using Grover's would be more efficient for maintaining the compulsion charm effects.

xxx

It was in the evening that Dawson gathered all Slytherins in the common room. He looked positively murderous. Harry, while keeping his face blank, was upset. Somebody definitely was poisoned that evening, but not Dawson. "No matter," Harry though, "I don't need Dawson dead specifically, though that would have been better for my plans. And yet, it changes very little in the long run."

"Right, then." Dawson said in a deceptively calm tone. "This evening my friend grabbed the handle of my dorm room door, and fell dead in two seconds. When I examined it, it turned out to be modified basilisk poison. Well, which of you did it?!"

Stunned silence met him. Harry, Theo and Blaise made sure to make appropriate surprised faces, though nobody was looking at them. On the contrary everybody was looking at Elizabeth Rosier.

'Just like I planned.' Harry thought. It was a known fact that Dawson and Rosier hated each other, after the incident with a break-in into Dawson's dorm. Harry had every intention of using that animosity to spread more animosity between the groups.

"Any suspects?" Harry asked. Dawson looked at him with angry eyes. Harry just raised an eyebrow.

"No." Dawson replied grudgingly.

"Are you planning to conduct an investigation?" Harry asked. Dawson nodded. "Then I don't need to remind you not to include teachers, otherwise they might just find out what is going on in Slytherin house and we will all be in a big deal of trouble."

"Yes, I know and I don't need reminders from a snot-nosed brat." Dawson sneered. Malfoy snorted, but when Basilisks' leader's furious glare turned on him, the boy gulped and looked like he wanted to shrink.

"Funny that. A snot-nosed brat sent about a dozen upper year students into the infirmary." Harry sneered in return. "Either way, the best solution would be an open interrogation under a truth serum."

"And where would we get that, Potter?" Dawson glared at Harry.

"From Snape, of course." Harry sighed. "Nobody is going to believe in any confession under a potion brewed by someone else."

"Very well. Stay here." Dawson barked. All the basilisks, who strategically stood near every entrance and exit from the common room, drew their wands.

xxx

"Well, Potter, you first." Dawson said as he and Snape, who was carrying a medium-sized vial of clear liquid, walked into the room.

All the Slytherins stepped back and created a round, clear space in the center of the common room. Dawson conjured a chair and Harry sat in it.

"Is that Veritaserum?" Harry asked, looking at the liquid.

"As a matter of fact, it is." Snape drawled." Now open your mouth, Potter." he ordered. When Harry did Snape poured three drops of Veritaserum on Harry's tongue.

"Did you lace the handle of the door to Dawson's dorm room with poison?" Snape asked.

"No." Harry replied in monotone voice.

"That proves nothing, he has Nott and Zabini." Dawson barked.

"Watch your tone, Dawson." Snape snapped. He was not going to be barked at by a student.

"Sorry, Professor Snape." Dawson appologized.

"Dawson is right, however." Snape said. "Did you order anybody to try to lace that doorhandle with poison?"

"No." Harry replied in the same tone of voice.

"Did you plan to poison Dawson?" Snape asked.

"No."

"Do you know anything about this crime?"

"No."

"Very well." Snape concluded. "As far as he knows, he is innocent."

"But he spent the entire afternoon and evening in his dorm room!" came a retort from the crowd. "What were you doing there, Potter?"

"I was writing a journal." Harry replied.

"That's enough!" Snape barked. "As entertaining it is to invade Mr. Potter's private life, we will do no such thing." He opened Harry's mouth, poured a drop of orange liquid on his tongue, and then closed his mouth. Harry blinked and glared at the girl from the crowd, who asked about his spending time in his dorm room.

"You are free to be on your merry way, Mr. Potter." Snape drawled. "Well, who's next?" It was then that Snape spotted a squirming and uneasy-looking girl, who tried to shy away from him.

"Ms. Grover." he said. She flinched.

"Y-yes, Professor?" Grover stuttered.

"Come here, Ms. Grover. Sit down." The girl complied. Snape poured three drops of Veritaserum on her tongue.

"What is your name?"

"Alice Millicent Grover." the girl replied in a monotone voice, that was much like Harry's, only a little bit different. Nobody, except Harry noticed.

"Did you lace Mr. Dawson's doorhandle with poison?"

"Yes." There were gasps in the room. Dawson looked murderous, but Snape stopped everything with a raised hand.

"What poison did you use?" Snape asked.

"Modified basilisk venom."

"Where did you get it?"

"In Knockturn Alley."

"Why did you try to poison Mr. Dawson?"

"He rejected me."

"You bitch!" exclaimed Dawson.

"Silence, Mr. Dawson!" Snape barked again. "That will be a detention with me for foul language." Dawson scowled at Snape but wisely decided to hold his tongue.

"Ms. Grover, did you work alone?"

"Yes."

"That will be all." Snape drew his wand and stunned the girl. Then opened her mouth and poured a drop of Veritaserum antidote on her tongue.

"We have found the criminal." Snape sighed. "Look after Ms. Grover." Snape barked at everyone. "I will go fetch the headmaster." Snape said as he walked out of the common room. He could feel big headache coming.

xxx

In Harry's room Theo and Blaise snickered. The boys were seated on Harry's bed, while Harry himself was seating behind his desk, looking through some of his notes.

"That was brilliant, Harry!" Blaise said quietly.

"But how did you trick Veritaserum?" Theo asked in confusion. "You didn't wipe out your own memories, did you?"

"No, that would be overkill." Harry replied. "I did it with the girls, though." he turned a page in his journal.

"Then how exactly did you do it?" Blaise looked at his friend inquisitively. Harry looked up from his journal and sighed.

"Very well." he said. "But know this, I consider you two my friends now. You mustn't breathe a word of it to anybody. Don't look anybody in the eye, don't drink anything you are absolutely sure is truth-serum-free, and do not ever discuss it outside of this room." Both boys nodded. "I am an ice elemental." Harry said plainly. To prove his point, he lifted his palm and a sword of ice appeared in his hand.

"That's why it's always colder around you than anywhere else, even in summer?" Blaise asked.

"Yes." Harry replied. "Is that honestly the first question on your mind?"

"How long have you been an elemental?" Theo asked.

"Ever since I can remember." Harry stated.

"And what does it have to do with Veritaserum?" Theo asked again.

"I froze it as soon as Snape closed my mouth." Harry said simply. "And since it has to be swallowed to become active, I simply hid it under my tongue."

"Cool." Blaise and Theo said at once.

"What are you reading, Harry?" Theo asked again.

"These are my observations of my dear dunderhead brother and his dunderhead friends." Harry sneered. "They are up to something. I don't know what, but they are constantly speaking of Nicholas Flamel and a three-headed dog, Fluffy."

"How do you know so much?" Theo asked. "I didn't think you were stalking them." Harry glared at his friend, who just laughed.

"I put a listening charm on their cloaks." came an indignant reply.

"But that's like…" Blaise started.

"Fifth year material?" Harry asked. "Yes, I stumbled upon it and found it incredibly useful, so I learned it."

"Wait, Harry, did you say Nicholas Flamel?" Theo asked carefully.

"Yes, I've been trying to find references to him – all pointless. Do you know the man?" Harry asked.

"Yes!" Theo exclaimed. "Nicholas Flamel – one of, if not the most famous alchemist in history. He is the only known creator of Philosopher's Stone."

"Does Philosopher's Stone turn metals into true gold?" Harry asked.

"Yes, and not only that." Theo said excitedly. "The Stone can produce elixir of life, that grants the drinker immortality. Flamel is still alive and he is over six hundred years old!"

"Well, Theo," Harry looked at the boy in question uncertainly, "Blaise, I guess this stone is in Hogwarts."

"WHAT?!"

"Shush!" Harry snapped. "I don't know silencing charms yet."

"Sorry, Harry." Blaise said sheepishly. Theo just rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, the dunderheads are trying to figure out what the three-headed dog in the third floor corridor guards." Harry said evenly.

"What the hell for?" Blaise asked.

"I wish I knew." Harry sighed. "But I didn't even know my brother before Hogwarts. I certainly didn't get to know him here, so I can't tell."

"Shall we tell Snape?" Theo asked.

"For what use?" Harry asked back. "He will just go back to Dumbledore and what will Dumbledore do? Nothing. He tutored Eric before Hogwarts – that means they know each other personally. If anything, Dumbledore will just talk to Eric and let him be." Not to mention that Harry would have to reveal his extensive knowledge of charms to the staff and attract unwanted attention to himself, especially from the headmaster. Harry remembered that it was Dumbledore who erected wards around Privet Drive, so even if the man didn't want to leave him with the Dursleys, he certainly didn't protest either. In other words, Dumbledore was a complete unknown, and Harry didn't like unknowns.

"What was the old man thinking, placing such an item here?" Theo asked. Harry blinked.

"You know, that's a very good question." He said. "Why didn't I think of it sooner?"

"Let's talk about it tomorrow. It's getting late." Blaise said. Harry and Theo nodded.

xxx

Harry was in the library, in the restricted section. He planned to sneak into it, but yesterday he just got a perfect opportunity to enter this part of the library legally.

 _Flashback_

"Mr. Potter." Flitwick said after his lesson was over. "Could you stay behind for a moment."

"Yes, Professor." Harry said, nodding at his friends. He was curious as to why the professor decided to speak with him. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

"Mr. Potter, I noticed that you did today's charm without incantation." Flitwick began, causing Harry to blink.

"I did?" the boy asked dumbly. He really didn't even notice. Harry mentally slapped himself, he needed to pay more attention to what he was doing.

"Yes, Mr. Potter." Flitwick replied with a small smile. "And I don't believe even for a second that a first or even a second year student could do it. That result can only be achieved through constant practice, and for some reason I do not believe that you were practicing a levitation, locking or unlocking charm, or even an animation charm, that is studied in the end of second year." Flitwick looked at his student intently. "Just how far are you in charms, Mr. Potter?"

Harry looked at his charms professor just as intently. He didn't trust the man. For that matter he really didn't trust anyone, except for Theo and Blaise, who he could no longer deny were his best and only friends. He didn't want to reveal true extent of his knowledge, but Flitwick would figure it out sooner or later, so lying was useless. Well, maybe something good would come out of it.

"I am in the beginning of the fourth year." Harry said quietly.

 _Present time_

And something good did come out of it. First, Harry decided to preserve the memory of Flitwick's face – it would always brighten his day. But more importantly, Flitwick said that he didn't want to waste any more of Harry's time and gave him an offer of private tutoring. Harry agreed, and then Flitwick said that Harry needed to read something more about charms theory than just school books. So he gave Harry a pass to the restricted section of the library with instructions to find a book called "Advanced charms theory" by Edward Black. The book was about three hundred years old and not very accurate, but it would do for Harry, since he only needed a part of it. Along the ride Harry took another book – on alchemy.

The alchemy book was for beginners and Harry understood very little, and that came from the advanced transfiguration and charms he was studying. However, that was not enough, not to mention that even a beginner alchemist would need a very good grasp on potions theory. Not an option for Harry, but he still read the book – it was interesting after all.

Edward Black's Book was a completely different matter. Harry understood most of it. It didn't have any new spells, but it provided a very detailed description of how charms worked, came to be, and interacted with different branches of magic. Harry was positively fascinated by this information.

* * *

 **AN: Once again I would like to thank VocalAurora for beta-reading this chapter.**

 **Replies to some of your reviews:**

 **Thundramon:** About Hermione and the Troll. I do believe, that I didnot tell that hse was in the toilet. I didn't actually tell, that she wasn't in the Great Hall during the feat, did I? So yes, Hermione is not stupid enough to give enough damn about Ron's oppinion of her, so she did cry a little, but not the whole day. I think I will not commant on other points of your review, because well, spoilers!

 **Guest:** Reading at six or five? Do you really care? And I believe that I didn't ask any questions about it.


	11. Chapter 9 After the stone

Chapter 9. After the stone

A lair of chaos – that is how someone could call Slytherin house after the events in the beginning of September, when Grover tried to assassinate Dawson. Nobody trusted each other. Tension thick enough to cut with a knife was hanging in the air every time members of two different groups met. That didn't include Harry's group, however, as nobody believed them capable of any serious action.

Nobody could say anything for sure, but members of different houses noticed the tension that ruled the Slytherin table every meal.; the staff noticed the increase in the number of Slytherin students in the infirmary.

To Slytherins, however, things were much more frightening. Though no one was brave enough to say this out loud, everybody knew that the war had begun. In the beginning of March Slytherins ceased going anywhere alone, preferring to travel in groups. Everybody knew that it was only a matter of time when raids in the dorms would start. Everybody shuddered at the thought. Three-way war in all of the school was enough, a war at your home – that would be pure hell.

Snape and Dumbledore were having a conversation about just that in the Headmaster's office.

"What do you think of the situation in your house, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.

"It is madness." Snape confessed. "I never imagined such an outcome. I never expected one student to try and poison another in the first place, but the reaction to it has easily surpassed my worst expectation. The sheer amount of Slytherins in the infirmary at every given moment…" he nervously sipped his tea.

"Yes, the reaction is surprising to me indeed." Dumbledore nodded. "I would expect Mr. Dawson's group to start terrorizing Ms. Grover's former group, but not a three-way war." The Headmaster looked thoughtful as he, too, took a sip of his tea. "Tell me, Severus, have there been any accidents that could provoke animosity between the groups, during the year?"

Snape looked thoughtful. He was carefully looking through his recollections of the year. Then it hit him.

"Malfoy." Snape said finally. "He broke into Dawson's room. That caused a rather big rift to appear between the Dark Mark and other groups… That is not counting Potter putting a number of students into the infirmary. These events, however, almost brought an alliance between the Basilisks and the Harpies. If anything, I would say that these two groups were about to put an end to the Dark Mark and Potter's little group."

"Then you agree, Severus, that this all looks entirely too convenient." Dumbledore said.

"Yes, but what do we do about it?" Snape asked. "It does look like everything was purely random. Malfoy wasn't under any charm. And he was caught red-handed trying to enter Dawson's room. Grover confessed under Veritaserum, and you know it is impossible to trick, and even then passive Legilimency showed the same result. It was her, and with her own motives."

"Let's look at the situation from this point of view: who has benefited the most?" Dumbledore said after a minute of contemplation.

"Dark Mark." Snape said almost instantly.

"And Slytherin's Crown." Dumbledore added. At Snape's inquisitive look he explained, "Severus, we cannot exclude any player, no matter how small and weak this player may seem. Mr. Potter has proven to hold significant power. The fact that he doesn't seem to be willing to recruit everyone who looks his way alone says that he has something in mind. The boy is certainly capable of thinking outside of the box, so to speak. As of right now, we do not know anything about either him or his group."

"Yes." Snape grudgingly admitted.

"Severus, you are not projecting your grudge against James Potter on his elder son, are you?" Dumbledore asked seriously. "The boy didn't even know James until his eleventh birthday and even then he spent only one day with his family. And then Lily told me about the animosity between Harry and his family. For all intents and purposes, the boy is more Harry than Potter. And if what little I saw of him is any indication, the boy has enough cunning to make Salazar Slytherin jealous. If you cannot respect him, at least do not underestimate him,."

"Very well, Headmaster." Snape said, annoyed at the impromptu lecture. "You think it's all Potter's handiwork? But a first-year couldn't even know about basilisk venom, let alone buy it! And even then Grover admitted that she was working alone!"

"I know, Severus." Dumbledore nodded. "Do not mistake my assumptions for my being sure of something. I don't exclude the possibility of Dark Mark being behind this. After all, a three-way war is still better than fighting an alliance of two enemies." he sighed. "And yet, it is strange. Wars don't usually start in the end of the year. Old leaders, who are going to graduate in summer aren't eager to allow leadership change during war… it makes recruitment of first-years… hectic. There is only one benefactor I see in that situation, and that is Slytherin's Crown. If they do not participate in this war, first-years will see them as safe heaven."

Snape merely nodded in response. "Do you think that it is possible that Potter stands behind all of this, headmaster?"

"Yes, Severus." Dumbledore nodded. Snape's eyes widened. "I know your arguments, my friend. There is something fishy about this whole situation. If Mr. Potter indeed has something in this situation, he wouldn't be able to do anything he did without some inside help, as any information on Basilisks-Harpies alliance was strictly confidential, am I right?" At Snape's nod, Dumbledore continued. "So then Mr. Potter would need a spy network." he sighed and looked at Snape intently, "If this is so, then we have a reason to be troubled. A spy network right under our noses…"

"But there is still a good possibility, that it was the Dark Mark, is there not?" Snape asked, looking almost hopeful.

"There is Severus, there is." Dumbledore sighed again.

xxx

For Harry, Theo and Blaise, life continued as if nothing has happened. They returned to their studies and continued to be the top of their year. Flitwick started private lessons with Harry. Right now Harry was in the middle of one of those sessions.

"Right," Flitwick said, "you already know the listening charm, correct?" Harry nodded. "Excellent!" The professor beamed. "We are going to learn tracking charms today. Compared to listening charms, these are much easier. Can you comment on that, Mr. Potter?" Harry looked thoughtful.

"Well," he said at last, "tracking charms can be very complicated too, if you want them to find your target even when it is hidden by various wards. And only tracking charms that work with blood can find a person anywhere. That's how Hogwarts letters can find you anywhere. Parents give a drop of blood from their child when they enroll them in Hogwarts."

"Excellent!" Flitwick beamed. "If this were an official lesson, I would have given you points, but since you requested these lessons to stay secret, I can't." Professor said. "Do you know why?"

"Another tracking charm." Harry nodded. "Reacting to voice and tied to the point book of Hogwarts."

"Correct." Flitwick smiled. "Now, the easiest tracking charm. It will allow you to know where the marked person is at any given moment, if he or she is not hidden by a ward. The incantation is…"

xxx

Finally June came and brought one thing most of the students dreaded the most – exams. Harry, Theo and Blaise did not specifically prepare for them like Granger, who didn't come out of the library. No, they brushed up on the first year theory the day before an exam. All three of them made it through the examination period safe and sound without sufficient lack of sleep.

Unsurprisingly, the war inside Slytherin house got in the way of the exams and many students were milling around the common room and whining about their problems, that is if they were not busy shooting death glares at each other. It always made Harry smile.

Harry's Occlumency practice continued, and he felt that soon he would be done with labeling his memories. He could almost feel all important ones consolidating together, creating something like a solid core in the limbo of insignificant and unlabeled memories. Recently, Theo and Blaise asked him to teach them Occlumency. Harry made two copies of his own book and gave them to his friends, instructing them to read them thoroughly.

xxx

"So, Harry. Do you think they are really going for the stone tonight?" Theo asked.

The boys were once again seated inside Harry's dorm room. Harry was behind the table, as usual, reading Edward Black's book for the second time. Theo and Blaise were also reading their books: Theo was looking through the book on alchemy that Harry "borrowed" from the restricted section, while Blaise requested a book on Dark Arts from home.

"I am positive." Harry nodded. "Listening charms on their cloaks have yet to fail me."

"So, what are we going to do?" Theo asked.

"We?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "You are going to do nothing, while I will just go and spy further on my brother. After all, I can't pass up a chance of getting my hands on the Philosopher's stone."

"What about your letter to Flamel?" Blaise asked. "Did he reply?"

"Yes." Harry said dryly and handed Blaise the letter.

Blaise and Theo both looked inside. They were a little impressed by the cursive, but considering the fact that Nicholas Flamel had six centuries to perfect his handwriting…

 _"Dear Mr. Potter,_

 _I thank you for keeping vigilance over my creation, but I can assure you, that it is absolutely safe. Please do not spend your time and effort on going after it or guarding it personally._

 _Thank you for your concern. As per your request I will not notify anybody of your knowledge of it being hidden in Hogwarts._

 _With regards,_

 _Nickolas Flamel"_

"So he basically waved you away?" Blaise asked. Harry nodded.

"I understand that exams are over, but still, Harry." Theo sighed. "Do you think it is wise?"

"Listen guys," Harry said firmly, "my observations of that dunderhead trio suggest that Voldemort is after the stone. And it appears, that for once my brother is actually right and can prove it. The only thing that stopped the Dark Lord and Dunderheads from going after the stone was Dumbledore's presence. Well, he left earlier today for some Wizengamot session. The point is, I am not going to let my incompetent brother hand immortality over to Volemort."

"Alright, Harry." Theo said. "Not to doubt you…"

"But we've been thinking," Blaise continued, "you are pretty damn powerful, but do you really think that you can take on Voldemort?"

"I am not going to take on Voldemort." Harry shook his head. "If the Dark Lord himself was in Hogwarts, he would have had the stone long ago. As it stands, he is just a spirit without power, who has to feed off his host."

"Host?" asked Blaise, making a face.

"One of the professors." Harry smirked. "The Dunderheads think it's Snape." he snorted. Theo and Blaise laughed.

"They really do?" Theo asked between laughs.

"Yes." Harry nodded. "But Snape has been visiting the Headmaster's office far too often to work against Dumbledore." seeing raised eyebrows he shrugged. "House elves are literally everywhere and see almost everything. It is amazing how most wizards dismiss their servants, thinking that house elves could never possibly present a threat to them. It is also amazing what the little buggers can do when you show them a small bit of kindness."

"Wow, Harry." Theo said. "Tell me to remind my parents to never work against you in the Wizengamot." Harry just smirked.

"They will probably not listen." Harry shrugged. "Grown-ups dismiss children just as easily as they dismiss house elves."

"Yeah, you're right." Theo sighed. "They have yet to listen to me and stop worshiping their dark marks…"

xxx

Silently, under a disillusionment charm, Harry crept to the third floor corridor. Eric and his Dunderheads were already inside. He finally reached the door that separated him from the three-headed dog. Harry mustered his courage.

"Alohomora." he whispered. The door opened. Behind it, Harry saw a very angry Cerberus barking at the trapdoor. "Damn." he swore. The he saw a harp, but it wasn't playing. Fortunately, Harry had information from Hagrid about the dog falling asleep every time it heard music (god bless listening charms). He pointed his wand at the harp and whispered, "Sono". The harp started playing and soon the dog fell asleep. Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

He took a piece of parchment from his pocket that was tied to the listening charm on the Dunderheads' cloaks. Nothing. They didn't go for the stone in their school uniform. "Note to self, place listening and tracking charms on something more personal." Harry though. "That is, assuming we all survive this night."

With that cheerful thought in mind Harry walked to the trapdoor. Then he noticed something shiny near it. He looked closer and saw a cloak. A scowl appeared on his face as he felt on the cloak. He took it and put it on, discarding his caution for once. It had to be one of the Dunderheads', so he assumed it was pretty safe. To Harry's great surprise his body, that was covered by the cloak, vanished, leaving his head floating in the air. At first a look of pure astonishment crossed Harry's face, but it was soon replaced by a not so kind grin. Harry took the cloak off, since he would be falling and it would be of no use, but made sure to maintain a firm hold on it. Taking a breath, he jumped inside the trapdoor opening.

He landed on something soft. That was a surprise, but he couldn't see a thing in the dark of the chamber.

"Lumos." Harry said, lifting his wand. A small orb of bluish light formed at the tip of Harry's wand. He gasped as he saw the vines, covering the floor and the walls. The vines were moving. It seemed as if they wanted to attack Harry, but something stopped them. "Damn that Herbology." Harry said, as he stood up and waved his wand across the chamber to get a better look at his surroundings. Harry noticed the plant scurrying away. 'So you are afraid of light.' Harry thought with malicious grin spreading across his face.

"Incendio!" Harry shouted, pointing at the vines between himself and a door.

The vines quickly retreated, clearing the path for Harry, who was only too happy to walk away from these plants. After walking for a couple of minutes Harry entered a large chamber with really high ceiling. There were hundreds of keys hovering in the air. Then Harry's gaze landed on a door. He assumed that one of the keys would open said door. There was also a broom, suspended in midair, Harry rolled his eyes at it.

"Alohomora." he said, pointing his wand at the door, but it didn't even move. "Well, that's just too bad. I am not going to go for the keys on this ridiculous broom." Harry grumbled. He took a step and pointed his wand at the door. Harry took a deep breath and concentrated, as powerful as he was, a first-year could only do so much. "Bombarda Maxima." he said firmly. The door was blasted apart by the powerful spell. Harry quickly put the cloak on, before the debris could settle down.

The sight in the other side of the door wasn't pretty at all. Remains of what Harry assumed used to be giant chess figures were scattered on the floor. Among them was an unconscious Ronald Weasley. Harry sighed at the sight and went forward, thanking fate that he didn't have to play his way across the chessboard. It would have been a royal pain in the ass.

The next chamber wasn't pretty either. Harry almost threw up at the smell. As he looked closer, Harry saw remains of what used to be a troll. And it was dead. Harry was pretty sure that neither Eric, nor his know-it-all Dunderhead, could accomplish such a feat. That had to be Voldemort's host. Shaking his head, Harry almost stepped forward, but was glad that he hadn't, because the next moment Granger came rushing back. 'Good.' Harry thought. 'Or maybe not…' Either way, before Harry knew it Granger was already out of his reach. He shrugged and walked forward.

When he stepped in a round chamber with a single table inside, he laughed at the fire that surrounded the room. Did they really think that such measly fire was going to stop anybody? Well, it certainly wouldn't stop him.

"I am a bloody ice elemental." Harry said to himself. "Good luck with obtaining either elemental fire or Fiendfyre, for these are the only flames that can burn my elemental ice." With a wave of his hand, all flames froze. Harry, still under cloak, casually strolled to the next chamber.

What he saw made his stop in his tracks. There they were. Quirrell and Eric, fighting over a red stone in Eric's hand. Harry saw a disgusting second face on the back of Quirrell's head. "So Quirrell was his host." Harry mused to himself. "Good choice, Voldemort."

Meanwhile, Eric touched Quirrell's hand that was strangling him and the man jerked away in pain. The flesh of his hand was turning into frozen ash. Harry raised an eyebrow at that. He strained his senses as much as he could, but still couldn't feel the cold of the ice element from his brother. Eric couldn't be an elemental, so it was something different. That got Harry curious.

Harry was so distracted, that he didn't notice anything, until Quirrell's shriek of pain brought him back to reality. The man swiftly turned into a pile of frozen ash. Eric was looking at the scene, speechless. Suddenly a cloud of black smoke rose from the ash and formed into an all too familiar face. It was Voldemort, who, with another shriek, flew straight through Eric, knocking the boy unconscious, and then flew away.

Footsteps could be heard behind his back. Harry was quick to act. He immediately picked up Philosopher's Stone and went as far away from the entrance as possible.

He saw Dumbledore and Snape run into the room, frantically looking in all directions. They finally noticed Eric. Dumbledore examined him and sighed in relief. Snape stepped up to the mirror that stood in the center of the room and waved a wand over it. He frowned and repeated his actions, a full-blown scowl crossed his face.

"Albus," Snape said urgently, "the stone is not there."

"What?" Dumbledore waved his wand over the mirror, completely forgetting about Eric. "How is this possible?"

"Who could have taken it?" Snape asked. "It couldn't be _him_ , could it?"

"No, Severus." Dumbledore sighed, looking at the pile of frozen ash. "It couldn't be him. Quirrell is dead and a wraith couldn't do anything with it."

"We lost it." Snape concluded. "All for the brat's tests."

"Yes." Dumbledore nodded. "But on a lighter note," he smiled, "Eric did pass all the tests. Everything went as planned. I will smooth things out with Nicholas. Let us go, Severus, Eric requires medical attention."

"At least we haven't been wasting our time teaching the Dunderhead." Snape grumbled.

Harry was looking at retreating backs of Dumbledore and Snape in shock. They talked of his brother like he was some new test product, not a human. This was ridiculous. They didn't really care about Eric's well-being at all. Harry was suddenly very glad that he grew up away from the man's machinations.

Sighing, Harry carefully crept after the retreating professors. When they the exited form the third floor corridor, Snape and Dumbledore, who was still carrying Eric, went upstairs to get Eric to the hospital wing. Harry, on the other hand, crept back to the Slytherin common room and then into his dorm. It was not an easy day and certainly not a pleasant evening, but all things considered, Harry was now the proud owner of an invisibility cloak and the Philosopher's Stone. With that final thought, Harry fell asleep.

* * *

 **AN: I would like to thank VocalAurora for betareading this chapter. And yes, before I forget, the first year is getting to an end, there will be one more chapter in this "book", and then I will start with the second year.**

 **Katzztar:** Yes, ambition is just to universal a thing. It feels really strange to attribute such trait to just one house.

 **Hot Tamale:** You have a good point and I added that warning. Though I personaly think it is more like machiavellian!Harry.


	12. Chapter 10 Aftermath

Chapter 10. Aftermath

Harry was sitting in his dorm room, shaking slightly. His eyes were unfocused, but his mind was racing. There was only one subject, or rather, person on his mind – Dumbledore. The man was a master manipulator, and was far more dangerous than Snape. Potions master fashioned himself the king of Slytherin house, while group leaders were supposed to be some sort of high council that was supposed to keep students under control for him. That was a good example of manipulation, but it was only a matter of time when Harry's plans completely destroy it. Three of four groups were already at war and Snape's control over the house was crumbling.

Dumbledore was far more dangerous. He projected an image of a kind grandfather that gets him on the good side of students from every house but Slytherin. And how naïve it was of Harry to think that his house would be excluded from the old man's manipulation! If Severus bloody Snape was reporting to the old man, what type of independence can there be? Dumbledore held the entire school in his hands. The most frightening was just how far Dumbledore's strings went. He had been headmaster of Hogwarts for decades, at least half a century, and when Harry tried to imagine exactly how many children passed through his meddling hands… All of them were adults now, with many thinking of him as a kind grandfather with no ulterior motives.

On another, more personal note, Harry would bet that Dumbledore was on good terms with the Potters. Maybe he was even their unofficial third grandfather. Lily and James probably felt indebted to the man because he agreed to train their son, and the man did have unhealthy interest in Eric, seeing how he was ready to endanger the whole school to test the boy-who-lived.

That was actually quite confusing. What the hell for was Dumbledore testing Eric for? What are the old man's plans for the boy-who-lived in the long run? Was Dumbledore planning something for Harry as well? Shiver run down Harry's spine.

"Get yourself together!" Harry mentally barked at himself. "Stop shaking like a frightened idiot."

A couple of calming breaths later, Harry stopped shaking and was able to take his emotions back under control. He stood from his bed and went to sit behind the desk, a piece of parchment and a quill already there. Harry took the quill and started writing down his problem.

"So, my greatest problem – Dumbledore." Harry wrote on top. "Why he is a problem – manipulation. He holds everything under his control." He wrote below.

"What do I want? Independence." Harry wrote below the problem description. "How do I begin? Relatives? Under my control." he continued writing:

 _School_

 _Slytherin House – a good start. Must take control as soon as possible._

 _Problems with this:_

 _Snape, other groups. Basilisks – Dawson is too good a leader, but according to Daphnie he is the only one in the whole group._

 _Solution: both problems are being neutralized by war. Next year all of the first-years will join the Crown. The war will continue until all the groups are ideologically exhausted. Next year there will be no Dawson, and no established leaders at all, which will leave all groups vulnerable. Must do something to ensure more chaos, so that all groups are too occupied to deal with first-years._

 _Tip: While groups are at war, many of younger students will tire very fast – possible recruits and spies._

 _Problem: What to do with Snape? He only left the Crown alone because there are just three members in our group. When we assimilate all of the first-years, he will take notice of us and try to enforce his rules upon the Crown. He has Dumbledore's backing, so attacking him head on is not an option._

 _Solution: if Slytherin students obey one first and Snape second, then he has no power. Might work, but his attention must be diverted. War is good, but it would be best if diversion will take his attention from Slytherins altogether._

 _What then?_

 _Striving to better reputation of Slytherin house in the school. Dumbledore cannot do anything about it directly. Though his reaction is actually unpredictable._

 _Adapting Dumbledore's tactics – influencing students into believing me to be like Dumbledore: nice, though ruthless, always right and always striving to make people's lives better. That would make a good platform in Wizengamot and in the wizarding world in general._

"Well, that's that." Harry sighed. Somehow plotting calmed him down, erased the last traces of panic. He stood up and noticed that the sky was already blue and sun was already rising. 'Ah, might as well do some Occlumency until breakfast, seeing how I won't be able to fall asleep.' Harry put his list into one of the compartments inside his trunk, hiding it under clothes.

xxx

"You look horrible." Theo said bluntly after one look at Harry. And then he continued to eat his porridge.

"Thanks for cheering me up, Theo." Harry replied dryly. He sighed and put some fried eggs and a strip of bacon on his plate.

"So how did it go, Harry?" Blaise asked.

"Good." Harry replied absently. "But I am not about to tell anything here."

"By the way, Harry, you might be interested, we've won the house cup." Theo said nonchalantly.

"Do I look like I care?" Harry asked not even looking up from his breakfast.

"Told you." Blaise shot Theo a triumphant smirk. The other just rolled his eyes.

"Oh well, at least Snape is looking delighted." Theo replied, looking at the head table.

Harry also looked at the teachers, but he couldn't care less about Snape, the man was inconsequential for now. He looked at Dumbledore. The grand puppet master was looking as calm as ever, but if one was to look closely, they would notice that headmaster wasn't engaged in a cheerful conversation with one of the teachers like he usually was. The man was eating calmly and silently with a contemplative look on his face. Harry absently noticed that McGonagall was looking sour, but his interest in her was more or less inexistent.

"Dumbledore is worried." Harry whispered to Theo and Blaise. "Look at him. He isn't talking to anybody."

"And?" Blaise asked.

"Dumbledore is always talking to somebody." Theo said.

"He needs to uphold his kind-but-eccentric-grandfather facade." Harry nodded. "We will actually have to talk about something, but not here." Both boys nodded at that.

xxx

Later that day Harry, Theo and Blaise were standing in the seventh floor corridor, near some tapestry none of them bothered to even look at. Harry addressed his friends.

"Look out for trespassers." He said. His friends nodded.

Harry looked at the wall and concentrated. 'I need a place to speak securely.' He thought. He walked the corridor three times and finally a door appeared.

"Theo, Blaise, come." He called his friends. The three entered the new room.

Inside was a circular room with a couch, armchairs, a small coffee table and a fireplace. The whole interior, including the furniture, was in Slytherin colors: green, some silver, and lots of black. Against the walls stood bookcases filled with different books. Once all three were seated and the door disappeared, Harry started to speak.

"You know that I have recently befriended a couple of house elves." Harry said. Both Theo and Blaise nodded. "Well, they told me about this room when I said that I needed more space to practice than an empty classroom could provide. This is the Room of Requirement. Whatever you wish, will appear here, but you can't take anything from here, hence the reason why wishing for food is pointless. Though you can eat here, if the food is not produced by the room."

"Cool." Theo said. He was about to ask something, but Harry cut him off.

"No, we can't set up our headquarters here." Harry shook his head. Theo was looking disappointed, as did Blaise. "There are others who know about this room. We don't need them interrupting us during meetings. It has to be an unused classroom, warded against anything."

"And that is so easy to do…" Thao said sarcastically.

"Yes." Harry nodded. "That's why I want both of you look into wards." Theo and Blaise nodded. "Anyway, that's not the reason I brought you here." Harry sighed and retold them what happened in the room with the strange mirror.

"Well, I knew that Dumbledore was manipulative…" Theo said, "But to pull such a stunt on his golden boy. What the hell was he testing Eric for?"

"Not magical power or intellect." Blaise snorted. "Or that prat would never have passed."

"No…" Harry shook his head, thinking. "It is Dumbledore, he would just observe if he wants to test someone for this qualities. No, he orchestrated different situations and I can bet that he knew that Voldemort was in school…"

"Every chamber had something in common…" Theo mused. "The person trying to step into every chamber was supposed to be brave and foolish."

"Yes, from what little we know now about Dumbledore, he would test something the person only showed in stress situations. But what? Bravery? Sounds too primitive to me. The test was too elaborate for that."

"Maybe mentality?" Blaise suggested.

"Hmm." Harry mused. "Maybe, but one's mentality can be observed passively. Though as they say, you can't quite get to know a person until you understand how he acts when he is alone and when he is in danger. But I think that was just a part of the test."

"What if he wasn't testing just Eric himself?" Theo asked.

"What do you mean?" Blaise asked.

"What if he was testing Granger and Weasel as well?" Theo suggested. "He is always going on about the value of friendship and so on…"

"Maybe." Harry said. Then he perked up. "Of course, he was testing their group. He wanted to see how Eric would act when faced with challenges he could not face. The chess set was for Weasley, and Snape's riddle was for Granger to figure out, since Eric would be hopeless in both cases. The plants were for Granger as well."

"It was actually Devil's Snare." Blaise supplied. He earned two raised eyebrows from Harry and Theo. "What, I like Herbology… somewhat." He shrugged. Theo and Harry just nodded.

"And Fluffy?" Theo asked. "What was Dumbledore testing there?"

"The Dunderheads' persistence and determination to find the truth." Harry replied. "And the keys… well, I think the keys were for both Granger and Weasel, to feel like Eric had also contributed something… Really, I am at a loss. Perhaps… perhaps it was to include all heads of houses. Dumbledore had to explain his choice of traps somehow. Anyway, the final chamber is something confusing." Harry mumbled the last part. "I don't know what was so special about the mirror, but I am positive that the stone was hidden there. Voldemort-possessed Quirrell couldn't get it from the mirror without Eric. Eric just looked inside, and the next moment it was in his pocket."

"Dumbledore wanted Eric to confront Voldemort?" Theo asked incredulously.

"My thoughts exactly." Harry nodded.

"Wait." Baise said. "Care to explain?"

"Quirrell couldn't steal the stone no matter what he did. However, Eric comes and receives the stone after a couple of seconds. Considering that Dumbledore most likely knew that Eric and his dunderhead friends would come after Voldemort, and that Voldemort would never be able to get the stone alone, so he would wait for Eric regardless… I'd say it was a foolproof plan. Voldemort would never be able to get his hands on the stone unless Eric had it. That would lead to an inevitable confrontation." Harry sighed. "And Dumbldore wanted to see how Eric would behave around Voldemort. Apparently the way Eric did – I mean fighting the Dark Lord – was to the old man's satisfaction."

"Wow." Blaise breathed. "He really has a talent for manipulation. Maybe more so than you, Harry."

"He has more experience, that's for sure." Harry nodded. "And that is critical in this subtle art. The point is – we must be careful. Extremely careful, we cannot allow Dumbledore to take interest in us until it is too late."

"Don't you think he could have already taken interest in us?" Blaise asked.

"He could," Harry mused, "but most decided that our actions are inconsequential for his plans. Anyway, even if he did notice our group, we are a complete unknown to him, he would most likely bide his time and observe our actions."

Harry stood up. "Alright, we must be seen, otherwise someone might notice our absence. We don't need that." Both of his friends nodded at that.

xxx

Harry, Theo and Blaise were in the library. Harry was reading another book on charms that Flitwick recommended him to read over the summer; Theo was studying a book on alchemy, sometimes looking into a dictionary or potions encyclopedia; Blaise was looking through a book on dark spells he got from home. It was under glamour, of course, and looked like a book on Herbology. Suddenly there were footsteps near the trio's table. Harry and Blaise instantly snapped their books shut and looked up. It was professor McGonagall, who raised an eyebrow at the reaction.

"Sorry, Professor." Harry smiled sheepishly.

"Not offence taken, Potter." She replied, schooling her face into its usual stern expression. Now, however, it had traces of softness in it. "The Headmaster would like to see you. I will walk you to his office, since I too would like to speak with you." Harry just nodded, packed his things, and followed the professor.

"I will see you guys later," he told Theo and Blaise.

xxx

"Lemon drop." McGonagall said as she and Harry reached a gargoyle on the seventh floor. The gargoyle jumped to the side, revealing the staircase that moved upwards. Harry raised an eyebrow at McGonagall. "Don't ask me, Potter, the Headmaster is the one who set up this password." Harry just nodded.

When the pair reached the top of the stairs, they were faced with a door. Harry felt a pulse of magic wash over him. 'Must be the wards.' He thought. Before McGonagall could even knock, they heard Dumbledore's voice.

"Come in, Minerva, Mr. Potter." The voice said. This seemed to be usual for McGonagall, as she didn't even bat an eyelash and instead opened the door, letting herself in and waiting for Harry who, after clearing his thoughts, also entered. The door closed behind them. "Lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked. McGonagall politely declined.

Clearing his thoughts proved to be a very wise decision, as the next thing Harry saw could have easily taken him aback. There was not only Dumbledore, but the rest of the Potters and, surprisingly, Snape. Harry, however, managed to keep a straight face, not looking Dumbledore in the eyes. Even the distraction with lemon drops, that was supposed to confuse everybody and momentarily make their Occlumency barriers falter, while the guest was wondering about Headmaster's sanity and staring right into his eyes, couldn't do anything to Harry. Though he did idly notic that Dumbledore liked sweets and made them the passwords to his office.

"Headmaster, you wanted to see me." Harry said calmly. In reality, he wasn't nearly as calm as he looked, he was afraid of Dumbledore and what the man might have cooked up together with the Potters.

"Yes, Harry." Dumbledore smiled. He couldn't read the boy's thoughts, even surface thoughts, without eye contact, and this student was as persistent in avoiding it as Severus had described earlier. At least he could read the boy's surface emotions. He felt the boy's fear and was actually taken aback. What could cause such fear? Dumbledore knew well enough, that Harry Potter wasn't really afraid of many people. Severus and the Potters definitely did not belong to this group. Was he, Dumbledore, the cause of such fear? The child turned out to be more clever than he first thought. Dumbledore smiled internally. Even Tom took at least three years to figure out who was the real big fish at Hogwarts. "You see, it has come to my attention that you still live with Lily's muggle sister and her family." Dumbledore felt resentment in the boy spike at that. "Lily and James here would like to take you away from them. However, they still want to protect Petunia's family." There he felt fury slowly rising within the boy. Dumbledore decided to ponder on this later. "Do you know anything about blood wards, my boy?"

Dumbledore felt fear returning as primary emotion, but Harry's demeanor was that of a very calm person. He could almost applaud the boy's acting skills. Then he noticed the look of contemplation that crossed the boy's face.

"They work only for the blood kin," Harry replied finally, "and provide those within them some protection from outside threats. If powered with good emptions and magic in the blood regularly they could become one of the most potent forms of protection." He paused for a minute. "That, and as a piece of blood magic, they are looked down upon as very dark arts." Harry took satisfaction in seeing the Potters flinch. Dumbledore, though, appeared not moved at the least.

Inside, Dumbledore felt rather pleased. Harry Potter's knowledge was extensive. He was a talented young wizard. But the resentment he felt when the boy spoke about the blood kin and protection was rather surprising. Though remembering Severus's words about the boy's home life… He had to think about it sometime later. The satisfaction when Harry talked about blood magic being dark arts and seeing Potters flinch spoke volumes about how the boy felt about family… if he even called them that. 'Maybe I should have argued more about not letting him live with muggles…' Dumbledore thought.

"Yes, Harry, that is a very accurate description." Dumbledore nodded. "You see, your parents asked me to set up blood wards around Petunia's house. These wards have been protecting you and them for eleven years. If you were to never appear there again, the wards would fall. Lily and James do not want that. That's why you will have to live there at least one month a year. That is enough to charge the wards to work another year. After this month your parents will pick you up."

'Peculiar.' Dumbledore thought. 'I don't feel anything but indifference from him.'

"Yes, Headmaster." Harry responded. "Is there something else?"

Lily and James looked like they wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Lily was watching her son with watering eyes. She wrote so many letters to Harry, and he did not reply to even one of them. James was watching his elder son stand there in front of Dumbledore, not even batting an eyelash their way. Harry just stood there, interacting with the headmaster, like there was no one around. It was actually the first time that James noticed that green looked good on Harry and that he certainly wasn't trying anything, more like Harry had resigned himself to his fate. Yes, James could already predict that the upcoming August would not be pleasant in the Potter manor, but he had to make it up to Harry, to at least come to some sort of understanding.

"No, Harry. There isn't, you are free to go." Dumbledore said.

"Very well, sir." Harry nodded. "Have a good day." He turned to McGonagall. "You wanted to talk to me, Professor?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter, come along." McGonagall motioned for him to follow as she left the office.

xxx

"Mr. Potter, sit down." McGonagall said as she sat behind her desk in her office. Harry did and looked at the professor expectantly.

"Mr. Potter, do you remember what Professor Flitwick and I proposed to you during Christmas?" She asked.

"Yes, Professor." Harry nodded.

"Well, I have been waiting for the exams to make any sort of real proposition to you." She said. Harry just looked at her impassively. "I looked through your theoretical exams and well, we have both been present for the practical part. First of all, you have an O in Transfiguration. But that was to be expected. Mr. Potter, I would like to know if you would like me to give you private lessons."

"I would be very grateful, Professor." Harry replied. McGonagall smiled.

"Very well. If you could tell me what the most complicated spell you know is?" she asked.

"The vanishing spell, Professor." Harry replied. McGonagall's eyes widened ever so slightly.

"Could you demonstrate it?" she asked. "Understand, Mr. Potter, that it is very hard to believe. This is OWL material after all."

"Yes, Professor." Harry took out his wand. McGonagall waved her wand over the table and a simple matchstick appeared on the table. "Thank you, professor." Harry smiled slightly. "Evanesco." He said, pointing his wand at the matchstick. It immediately vanished.

"Well done, Mr. Potter." McGonagall smiled. "What is the most complicated structure you have ever vanished?"

"A letter, Professor." Harry replied. McGonagall nodded, having spoken enough times to Lily to guess whose letters were vanished.

"Very well, Mr. Potter." McGonagall nodded. "I would like you to read the following books during the summer. We will start our lessons next September." She gave Harry a list of books. It was extensive. Harry just nodded. "Well, off you go, , you don't want to miss the feast, do you?"

"Thank you, Professor." Harry smiled as he left McGonagall's office.

xxx

"So, what was it?" Theo asked when Harry joined the Slytherin table in the great hall just before the leaving feast started.

"Living bloody arrangements." Harry grumbled. "Potters want me to live with them for an entire month." He hissed.

"I take it you're not thrilled by the idea." Blaise asked.

"Of course not." Harry said, calming down. "I have absolute freedom where I am living now. I won't have it with the Potters." He sighed. "No matter, it just makes my schedule for July tighter." That was when Harry noticed green banners everywhere. "Hm, the hall looks nice in green." He idly remarked.

"Yes, Snape definitely agrees with you." Theo said with a laugh. Harry looked at the staff table, where Snape was smirking smugly.

At the end of the feast, Dumbledore stood up. Everyone quieted down and looked at him. The Slytherins, most of them anyway, were looking smug, while the rest of the school looked resigned.

"It is time to count points and declare winners!" Dumbledore said jovially. "In the fourth place is Gryffindor, with 312 points." Gryffindor table cheered weakly. "In third place comes Hufflepuff with, 396 points." Students in yellow and black cheered much more lively that Gryffindors. "In second place is Ravenclaw, with 402 points." Ravenclaws clapped. "And finally, with 462 points comes the winner – Slytherin!" The table in green cheered madly. Harry was actually surprised. For people who claimed to be elite, these people actually behaved like a babbling bumbling bunch of baboons.

"Yes, well done, Slytherin!" Dumbledore said. Harry sensed a "but", and he sensed right. "However," Slytherin tensed, but other students looked hopeful, "some last minute points are in order due of recent events concerning Philosopher's Stone."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Here goes." He muttered.

"To Ms. Hermione Granger, for knowledge and level-headedness in face of danger, I award fifty points!" The Gryffindors cheered enthusiastically. "To Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best game of chess ever played in Hogwarts, I award Gryffindor fifty points." Another round of cheers. Harry already knew where this was going and, frankly, he didn't care, the house cup had never been one of his priorities, though awarding Weasley points for something intellectual – that was pretty repulsive. "To Mr. Eric Potter, for outstanding bravery in face of danger, I award sixty points." The Gryffindors cheered like mad.

"They are even with us." Theo said with a bit of resentment.

"Just you wait, he is not over." Harry said, looking at Dumbledore.

"It is brave to stand up against your enemy, but one must be even braver to stand up against their friends. To Mr. Neville Longbottom, for this very reason, I award ten points." Dumbledore smiled as faces of most Slytherins' fell. "If my calculations are correct, it is time to change banners!" The Headmaster clapped his hands and all green banners with silver serpents were replaced by red with golden lion. Gryffindor table was basically jumping up and down in joy. Harry looked at them with disdain. The rest of the evening he had to tolerate grumbling Slytherins, who were whining like a bunch of small children who lost their favorite toy.

xxx

The train ride next day was uneventful. Harry, Theo, and Blaise made plans for the summer and shared them. Theo and his parents planned to go on vacation to France, while Blaise was going straight to Italy from Platform 9¾. Very soon the train reached its destination and the three friends bid farewell to each other,

When Harry left the train he was surprised to find the elder Potters and Eric waiting for him. They looked like they wanted something from him, so he rolled his eyes and approached the group.

"Hello, Harry." Lily said softly. Harry just nodded in return. "We are actually here to tell you, that we will pick you up a day before your birthday from your aunt's home."

"Very well." Harry nodded, his face impassive. "Good day."

With these final words Harry left the platform and entered King's Cross where the Dursleys were already waiting for him. He regarded them with cool gaze.

"Well, come on, boy, we don't have all day." Vernon hissed angrily.

"Shut your mouth, pig." Harry said as he and the Dursleys started walking. "Or I will slice you into pieces."

As Vernon paled dramatically, Harry smirked. "Don't worry, I will leave you on July 30th. Now go, I have better things to do than spend time in your rotten company."

xxx

In his office Albus Dumbledore was sitting alone. Even his familiar was away on a mission. This year was certainly eventful. He encountered not one, but two very interesting boys. Eric and Harry Potter.

Eric Potter was pretty much like his father. He was talented in some areas, moderately powerful, maybe later he would grow up to be above average in terms of raw power. Dumbledore knew this kind of boys. He knew that Eric would grow out of his arrogance, after all, James did. The boy-who-lived was progressing nicely, tests were passed, now Dumbledore was more or less sure that Eric had a suitable personality to be a hero. Just what Dumbledore and the entire wizaring world needs.

Harry Potter. Dumbledore sighed. The boy was talented, very talented if Minerva's reports and her decision to give him private lessons were any indication. Harry Potter was also powerful. Very powerful. Eric could be above average, but he had no hope of ever joining Dumbledore's and Voldemort's league – grand warlocks' (1) league. Harry, however, could do so and even go further. Power, however, was not the most important trait of the boy, he did not flaunt his power – no, Harry Potter was very cunning. Dumbledore sighed again and opened one of the drawers of his table. He withdrew a small leather-bound diary with and elegant sliver symbol on the cover from the drawer. It was a triangle with a circle inside and a line, dividing the triangle in two. Harry Potter didn't remind Dumbledore of young Tom Riddle, no, this boy reminded Dumbledore of another young boy, who was very talented, powerful, ambitious and angry with his family.

"Do I help him?" Dumbledore thought. "Or do I watch him?"

* * *

 **AN:** **I would like to thank VocalAurora for beta-reading this chapter.**

 **And that's it. The first year is over. I will not be rplying to every review individually here, I hope you will understand. I recieved a lot of criticism over chapter 9 and the entire fanfic in general. These reviews were in many ways right. There were many points in this story where the fic could be improved and I will endeavor to do just that. THat doesn't mean, however, that I will post a rewrite. Firstly, I hate when writers go rewrite on their readers'... asses. Secondly, I will not change the plot as a whole, only some details, some of them major some minor. Thank you all for your reviews - they are all appreciated.**

 **P.S. After some thnking I decided to reply to one review.**

 **Aetemus:** If you think the reasons for abandoning Harry were crappy at best, then you are correct. I will not write anything else, becuase otherwise this short reply will turn into a long spoiler.


	13. Sequel

This is just a glorified author's note really. The sequel is up, it is called "Icy Heart: Snakes of Ice". Here it is: s/12250562/1/Icy-Heart-Snakes-of-Ice

Once again, thank you, readers for following this story and of course for your reviews.

That's it. Have a nice day.


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